Pakistani envoy hails opening of Anadolu Agency office

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency's Islamabad office is one more link between two "brave" countries -- Pakistan and Turkey -- and their people, Pakistan’s ambassador to Turkey told Anadolu Agency.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi expressed pleasure over the opening of the office in Islamabad, which was formally inaugurated on Tuesday as part of the news agency's efforts to expand its global reach, and became the agency’s 41st office worldwide.

"The Anadolu Agency's office will allow the people of Turkey to see Pakistan as a friendly and brotherly country first hand in Turkish language, and this is something that we really welcome," Qazi said.

The envoy said the new office will facilitate Turkish people to see closer the country "that loves them so much".

"Anadolu Agency's office will be a fantastic opportunity for ordinary Turks to see Pakistan, learn about Pakistan, and to experience Pakistan," he added.

Stressing that Pakistan is a "natural geographical hub" of South Asia which connects the region with the Central Asia and the Middle East, Qazi said that Anadolu Agency's decision to inaugurate its Islamabad office was a "very natural choice".

"It is a very apt choice, and we think that it is a good choice that Anadolu Agency is considering Islamabad to be a regional hub," he added.

Qazi also said that Pakistan is "perhaps, the best place, vintage point" to cover the developments in the "busy" region.

The new office in the heart of the capital was inaugurated by Pakistan's Minister of Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Turkey's ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Anadolu Agency’s Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Director General Metin Mutanoglu and Deputy Director General Mustafa Ozkaya as well as diplomats, members of parliament, officials and prominent local media figures.

Located a short distance from the parliament building and other important locations such as the president's residence and prime minister's office, Anadolu Agency’s office is set to become one of the most important news hubs in the region.

Founded in 1920, Anadolu Agency is a well-established global news agency with operations in most major regions of the world, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Asia-Pacific, and serves subscribers in more than 100 countries.

For its subscribers, 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.