Anadolu Agency, OIC sign cooperation agreement

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's state-run news agency, Anadolu Agency, signed a cooperation agreement with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday.

Anadolu Agency Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief Metin Mutanoglu and OIC Information Department Director Maha Akeel signed the agreement at the agency's headquarters in the capital Ankara.

The agreement mainly covers general partnership, news exchange, information exchange, and information circulating inside the OIC.

Mutanoglu said Anadolu Agency’s groundbreaking Muslim World News package is “very important for us, because there is a vacuum right now which was identified by us”.

He added, "So of course we need each other, and this is actually the reason why we created the Muslim World News Package. Because we are trying to establish and strengthen connections with all Muslim countries", Mutanoglu said.

"We believe that the missions of the OIC and Anadolu Agency come together at this point. We can succeed at it. Because we have offices in 43 countries and representatives in 80 countries. We are in important and critical capital cities. We formed this link", he stated.

"Our goal is to strengthen ties between Muslim countries", said the agency’s deputy director general. "We are happy to work together with the OIC. It's a big advantage to sign this agreement together with the OIC”.

For his part, the OIC’s Akeel said, "For us it's very important to have this cooperation with Anadolu Agency because it gives us access and communication to know about the issues and follow them".

On covering news on Muslims focusing on problems such as islamophobia, she said, "The media plays a very important role, it's our duty to counter this negative images, perceptions".

"I look forward to cooperating on projects, programs, training, raising awareness, focusing on certain issues about Muslim communities around the world," Akeel said.

Akeel also praised Turkey's chairmanship of the Islamic Summit Conference in April.

After the signing ceremony, Akeel was presented a ceramic vase as a gift.

Founded in 1969, the OIC, with a current membership of 57 states, is an international organization working to protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.

The second-largest inter-governmental organization after the UN, the OIC says, "The organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world".

The Republic of Turkey has been a member since 1969.