Iranian ambassador visits Anadolu Agency

By Ugur Cil

ANKARA (AA) - Iranian ambassador to Turkey, Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian Fard visited Anadolu Agency headquarters in Ankara on Thursday.

Fard was received by Director General Senol Kazanci, Deputy Director General Mustafa Ozkaya, Deputy Director General and Editor-In-Chief Metin Mutanoglu, and Persian Desk Editor Hikmet Gok.

Kazanci said Anadolu Agency had a strong presence in Iran and the region, and monitored the developments closely.

The director general praised the deeply-rooted relations between the two countries, not only in terms of economy, but also due to a shared culture and history.

Anadolu Agency would like to further strengthen its ties with Iran's official news agency, IRNA, he said, adding visits such as today's would contribute in this regard.

Fard, for his part, said Turkey and Iran shared the same views on many critical issues including in particular northern Iraq, and the two countries continued to cooperate in politics, economy, military and security.

The envoy underlined the impact of media on bilateral relations, and pointed out the significance of regional news agencies in terms of reporting developments.

"For this reason, I believe the relations between Anadolu Agency and IRNA need to be boosted," he said, adding IRNA administration shared the same belief.

Anadolu Agency boasts 39 offices worldwide and produces news stories in 11 languages including Turkish, English, Arabic, French, Kurdish, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (BCS), Russian, Albanian, Persian and Macedonian.

The agency also plans to launch Spanish and Indonesian services soon.