ISTANBUL
Delegation members of the Association of the Balkan News Agencies – Southeast Europe (ABNA-SE) convened Tuesday ahead of the 32nd Conference and General Assembly hosted by Anadolu in Istanbul.
The opening cocktail, held in Umraniye district of Istanbul, brought together leaders and representatives from news agencies across the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Europe.
Key figures attending the event included Serdar Karagoz, the president and CEO of Anadolu, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Anadolu Yusuf Ozhan, Yahya Bostan, Anadolu's academy and editorial coordinator, and Anadolu Publications and Productions Coordinator Oguz Karakas.
The Romanian National News Agency AGERPRES was represented by Deputy General Director Cristina Mihaela Tatu and Public Relations and International Relations Specialist Alexandra Andone.
Other attendees included Greek News Agency AMNA President Aimilios Perdikaris, AMNA Editor - Northern Greece Directorate Sofia Papadopoulou, and Foreign News Correspondent Iliana Skiada.
Also present were Rodolfo Cardarelli and Diletta Sarzi Amade from the Italian News Agency ANSA, Valbona Zhupa, General Director of the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) and Almarina Gegvataj, ATA's Director of News and Multimedia.
The Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) was represented by Director General Kiril Valchev, Legal Advisor Svilen Todorov and Head of European Projects Iliana Georgieva. Additionally, the Director of the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Constantinos Phinicarides, International Relations Officer Marianna Mela and representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Federation News Agency (FENA) and the Croatian News Agency (HINA) were in attendance.
General Manager Elmir Huremovic, International Relations Specialist Aida Birno from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Federal News Agency (FENA) and Director General Branka-Gabriela Vojvodic and Editor of Internal Desk Tamara Marinkovic Margetic from the Croatian News Agency (HINA) were in attendance.
The event also saw participation from KosovaPress President Skender Krasniqi, North Macedonian News Agency (MIA) General Director Dragan Antonovski and Editor in Chief Ana Cvetkovska.
Under the leadership of Anadolu, which holds the presidency of ABNA-SE for 2024, the conference on shaping the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and media will take place on Wednesday, followed by the 32nd General Assembly meeting on Thursday.
