Anadolu kicks off 28th war journalism training program

By Zehra Tekeci Eser and Fatma Zehra Solmaz

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) - The 28th edition of war journalism training program, jointly organized by Anadolu, Turkish Police Academy, and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), started on Monday to train correspondents for reporting in war zones, disasters, and emergencies.

A ceremony was held at the Police Academy’s Golbasi campus in Ankara to mark the start of the new term, which will run until Nov. 14.

Speaking at the event, Police Academy Deputy President Fatih Inal said women, children, and unarmed civilians are the biggest victims of war.

Drawing attention to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, Inal said more than 250 journalists have been killed while “chasing truth and reporting the facts, many of them deliberately targeted.”

“I condemn those who commit this oppression, who kill innocent children, women, and journalists,” he said, adding: “We hope there will be no more wars. Just as children and women should no longer shed tears, we hope our journalist colleagues will deliver only good news.”

Inal underlined that the program aims to equip journalists with survival skills and ease their work under harsh conditions, noting that challenges are not limited to conflict zones.

“Difficult environments are not only about war,” he said, referring to natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, wildfires and at times violent social unrest. Journalists trying to cover such events can become victims of the violence alongside others, he stressed.

Through the training, participants will learn how to operate safely in these environments and protect themselves, he said, adding that the program is demanding and remains the world’s only certified training of its kind.

Inal said the course will offer intensive training, including advanced driving, map navigation, handling explosive threats, survival in water and nature, food sourcing, shelter building, long-distance night movement, and responding to kidnapping scenarios.

TIKA’s head of foreign relations and partnerships, Ugur Tanyeli, said they are holding the final war reporting training of the year, with this term focusing on journalists from Africa’s Francophone region. He emphasized TIKA’s commitment to investing in human capital in friendly countries.

He called Gaza “the biggest tragedy of recent years” and “the world’s largest cemetery for journalists.”

AA Academy Director Zeynep Bayramoglu Ozturk said they have completed 27 terms of war correspondent training, aiming to support journalists working in crisis zones.

Ozturk said since its establishment in 2012, AA Academy has held 382 trainings for over 16,000 journalists, constantly updating the program.

A total of 24 trainees are participating in this term, including nine Anadolu staff, and journalists from Djibouti, Tunisia, Senegal, Niger, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Guinea.