Turkey's Anadolu Agency opens Beijing office

By Tevfik Durul

BEIJING (AA) - Anadolu Agency on Monday opened its office in Beijing, China’s capital, in line with its goal of becoming one of the world’s most influential news agencies.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mustafa Ozkaya, deputy director-general of Anadolu Agency, said the Beijing office will make a significant contribution to the agency's global vision.

"With the [opening of the] Beijing office, we have completed one of the most important expansions of Anadolu Agency's structure in the Asia-Pacific region," Ozkaya said.

He drew attention to the importance of reporting objective and unbiased news from the world's second largest economy and important political actor, China.

Speaking about the One Belt-One Road initiative launched under the Chinese President Xi Jinping, which aims to connect more than a dozen European cities with China via Turkey, Ozkaya said the agency will maintain the historic friendship between Turkey and China which began with trade through the ancient Silk Road.

"We celebrated the 94th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey yesterday. We are pleased to open our Beijing office today following such great celebrations,” he added.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Anadolu Agency delegation briefed guests about the agency’s global structure and the languages in which it publishes news.

The guests also received copies of the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 and the FETO Coup Attempt, both published by the news agency.

The ceremony was attended by the agency’s Board of Directors Muhammet Salih Demirkan and Ali Turker Pirtini, International Operations Director Ural Yesil and Teoman Uykur, undersecretary at the Turkish Embassy in Beijing.

Yen Vinbin, international news director of China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency, underlined the importance of cooperation with Anadolu Agency.

He read out a message by the Xinhua News Agency Head Say Mingaco who congratulated Senol Kazanci, the chairman of the board and director-general of Anadolu Agency.

Yen said Mingaco believes Anadolu Agency's Beijing office will positively contribute to bilateral relations between the two countries.

Pirtini told Anadolu Agency: “We aim to bring the Turkish and Chinese people close to each other through the news we report from Beijing.”

As part of its global expansion, Anadolu Agency last week launched its news services in the Indonesian and Spanish languages after opening offices in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and the Colombian capital Bogota.

The agency also opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week.

It plans to open another office in Pakistan by the end of this year.