ANKARA 

The 28th Association of the Balkan News Agencies – Southeast Europe (ABNA-SE) General Assembly and Conference was hosted by the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) in the capital Tirana. 

Anadolu Agency handed over the one-year chair of the Association of the ABNA-SE to ATA.

Anadolu Agency was represented by the agency’s Deputy Director-General and Editor-in-Chief Metin Mutanoglu, Director of International Operations Mucahit Soykan and Albanian-Macedonian Service Editor Adnan Idriz at the General Assembly.

A conference -- themed Media & Tourism - Ideas & Solutions -- was also held as part of the General Assembly.

Among the attendees of the conference was Deputy Chairwoman of the Albanian parliament Vasilika Hysi and Albania's Minister of Entrepreneurship Eduard Shalsi.

Addressing at the General Assembly, Mutanoglu said: "A total of 251 soldiers were martyred by a group of treacherous soldiers on July 15, 2016," stressing the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) is still active in some countries in the Balkans.

Warning the members of ABNA-SE on FETO, he said: "We expect from you to show sensitivity at this point."

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Anadolu Agency serves to subscribers in more than 100 countries and has offices in 41 points across the globe, he said, adding the agency produces news stories in 13 languages: Turkish, English, Arabic, BHS (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian), Russian, Kurmanji, Sorani, Persian, French, Albanian, Macedonian, Indonesian and Spanish.

Meanwhile, speaking also at the conference, Mutanoglu said the tourism needs all means of communication and therefore the media is important in conveying the message to the public.

He went on to say that Anadolu Agency aims to promote Turkey's tourist and cultural assets by publishing news in 13 languages.

"Only from Albania, Anadolu Agency has supplied Turkey with at least 50 news per months. The number from the whole region is approximately 200 per months. Also Anadolu Agency is seen as a bridge between Turkey and the Balkans countries," he noted.

"So we are also playing a very crucial role to convey Turkey's message to the Balkans countries and vice versa. While promoting cultural, touristic and historical activities in Turkey to the people of the region, we also promote their cultural, touristic and historical activities to Turkish people and worldwide countries.

"So we also promote cultural and historical backgrounds of the cities in the region and the Anadolu Agency's activities in the region are appreciated by senior officials of the countries where we have offices like Tirana, Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo, Pristina and Podgorica many other cities in the region," he said.

Mutanoglu presented books -- titled Turkey from Sky (Gokyuzunden Turkiye) and Turkey’s Cultural Heritages (Turkiye'nin Kultur Hazineleri) -- to participants. He also introduced to the participants world's oldest known temple in southeastern Turkey, Gobeklitepe, which was declared an official UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Meanwhile, Albanian News Agency’s Chief Executive Armela Krasniqi said Albania attaches great importance to its tourism sector. Tourism is one of the sectors with the greatest potential and income in Albania.