The Executive Board Chairman and Director General of the Anadolu Agency (AA) Kemal Ozturk on Monday said that it was an honorable duty to be the voice of the orphans in Arakan, civilians in Aleppo, the poor in Damascus, and the oppressed in Palestine or any other place.
Kemal Ozturk's remarks came as he shared an annual activity report with AA staff members at the AA Headquarters in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday.
Wishing those Turkish troops killed in Beytussebap God's mercy on Monday, Ozturk stressed that Turkey was going through a difficult period.
"The AA is a witness to historic developments. As an agency taking notes, shooting photographs and recording videos in this historic term and having correspondents in all regions where the Arab Spring continues, we have strengthened our position as a witness. This is a breaking point for global political history. We are fortunate to have the news of AA at this breaking point," Ozturk underlined.
"You may be able to express your strength by talking or words. However, what is crucial is to be operational at the field," Ozturk said.
"In the past year, one of the things that made me very happy was to begin edition services in several world languages. This has helped us enter the race track with a fast pace," Ozturk noted.
"We have shared our Centennial Vision with AA staff members in March and the public on April 9. Our most important aim is to be one of the top five news agencies of the world," Ozturk stated.
"Since last year, the average age of AA staff members working has dropped down. The number of AA staff members younger than the age of 25 has increased with the graduates of the AA News Academy," Ozturk indicated.
"In the past year, a second labor union was established at the AA. During this period, the corporate structure of the AA changed and we renewed AA's logo," Ozturk stressed.
"As part of our Centennial Vision, Bosnian Edition Services was established and we publish 50 news daily at that department. A great majority of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian newspapers use AA's news in their foreign news pages," Ozturk noted.
"AA's biggest office in the Middle East was opened in Cairo and Arabic Edition Services began publishing news. Our Arabic department publishes 150 news daily. We have received high interest in the Middle East," Ozturk said.
"Our Russian Edition Services began publishing news recently and we established a regional office in Baku. Thanks to AA's international performance, the interest in our English news has risen," Ozturk expressed.
"It is crucial to be operational at the field. If you can make a news story on an incident in Cairo, Tunisia or Egypt, this means you are strong. Having merely an office or a staff member in a city is not success itself. What is important is to have an operation there. Shooting a photograph in Aleppo and sending it to Turkey and publishing it implies operational strength. What matters is to be able to manage an operation," Ozturk said.
"Our daily number of news has risen to 942 between August 1, 2011 and July 31, 2012. The number of daily news has risen by 48 percent in a year. As part of our Centennial Vision, we plan to have 4,000 news stories per day. In the same term, the number of photographs went up by 21 percent and our daily number of photographs reached 613. And, the number of daily video news went up 43 percent to 145," Ozturk noted.
"AA follows developments in all corners of the world closely, especially those taking place in the Arab Spring countries," Ozturk stressed.
"The Editor's Desk is a project we attach high importance to. We have reached an excellent point technically and can hold joint meetings with AA staff members from all around the world. The Editor's Desk contributed to the strength of the AA," Ozturk stated.
"With a completed technical infrastructure, latest technology, and experienced correspondents, the year 2013 will be an excellent one for the AA with God's will," Ozturk also said.
During the meeting, AA's promotional films in Turkish, English and Arabic were shown to the AA staff members.
AA's Deputy Director Generals Ahmet Tek and Ebubekir Sahin, a member of the AA Executive Board Prof. Dr. Nihat Erdogmus, and correspondent Sarp Ozer also delivered speeches during the meeting.
