Anadolu's 24th term war journalism training continues in Ankara

By Muhammet Tarhan

ANKARA (AA) – The 24th term war journalism training organized by Türkiye’s leading international news agency Anadolu in collaboration with the Police Academy and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) continued in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday.

The two-week course, which is being attended by 11 Anadolu and 13 foreign journalists, aims to prepare correspondents for assignments during wars, natural disasters, and extraordinary situations.

Trainees are given realistic-looking simulations of social events.

During the training session on social events at the Police Academy, teams sprayed participants with pressurized water and fired pepper spray.

Some foreign journalists participating in the course gave Anadolu's training a very high rating.

Zeinab Yassine, who works for Lebanon's official television channel Tele Liban, expressed gratitude to Anadolu for the opportunity.

"This is a really great experience and it was worth coming here from Lebanon," Yassine said.

Yassine, who worked in Palestine before coming to this training, said, "When I'm done here, I'll go back there."

Salim Mirouh, who works at Algerian national television EPTV, also agreed that social events training was beneficial.

"But in practice, it was painful because it was not easy to resist pepper bombs. It damages the eyes. However, I did my best. But, in the end, things are not that simple," he said.

The training began on Nov. 6 and will continue until Nov. 17.

The training program will encompass 26 lessons, ranging from journalism to personal safety, from war terminology to first aid, and from advanced driving techniques to water survival strategies. A total of 108 hours of training will be provided, with a substantial 62 hours dedicated to practical exercises.

Since its inception in 2012, Anadolu's War Journalism Training program has seen the participation of 510 media professionals, including 183 from foreign countries.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz​​​​​​​