Anadolu Agency ready for June 24 Turkish elections

By Sarp Ozer

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is ready for the country's June 24 presidential and parliamentary polls as it has finished preparations to make the election results available quickly and accurately, said the agency’s head on Wednesday.

Anadolu Agency will be covering the June 24 elections and conveying the results to both Turkey and the waiting world, said Director General Senol Kazanci.

Kazanci said that to date, the agency has conveyed the results of six elections and a referendum to its subscribers and the public in the fastest way after the votes were counted, and Anadolu Agency gave 100 percent correct poll results.

The agency will get data from the official reports prepared and signed by all parties' representatives and convey them to the public, he explained.

Kazanci also said that international news agencies praised Anadolu Agency’s accuracy in giving elections results 100 percent correctly and quickly when some 50 million people cast ballots.

"In addition to being Turkey's national news agency, Anadolu Agency is influential globally and rose to the level of the most trusted news agencies in the world. This level that Anadolu Agency has reached is no doubt a source of pride for our country and people," Kazanci said.

Anadolu Agency's software team has finalized tests for Election Day, Kazanci said, incorporating advances to further ensure accuracy.

He said that Anadolu Agency is doing all its work at the international level following universal guidelines, making the agency the fastest possible, most impartial and reliable media organ.

-'Our only concern is doing our best'

Kazanci brushed aside any attempts to defame the agency’s work.

"We’re doing our own business. Our only concern is to do our best and with our staff, we'll do it with dedication for the June 24 elections," he said, adding that Anadolu Agency is one of the world’s top news agencies and aims to make the top three.

Turkish voters will go to the polls on June 24.

Six candidates are running for president, while eight political parties are taking part in the parliamentary elections.

If the presidential election goes to a second round, then voters will again go to the polls one of the following Sunday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014.

If reelected on Sunday, he would be Turkey's first president under its new presidential system of government.