Turkic media need to 'act together'

By Aliia Raimbekova

TURKESTAN, Kazakhstan (AA) - Turkic states need to “act together” to develop their news networks against international media pressure, according to a senior Anadolu Agency figure Friday.

Speaking at a Turkic media forum in Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Anadolu Agency’s International News Editor-in-Chief Faruk Tokat also drew attention to how Turks, Muslims, Asians and Africans were exposed to xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks due to "information pressure and manipulation by the West or other international dominant forces".

The forum was organized by the Turkic World Educational and Scientific Cooperation Organization at the Hoca Ahmet Yesevi University.

Tokat also said the duty of the Turkic media was to help defend universal human rights, to contribute to regional and world peace and to provide peace and stability in troubled regions.

"We need to find a way to act together by multiplying the fields of cooperation in order to achieve this," he said, adding that journalists in Turkic states could lead a communication network.

The conference ended with a proposal to open mutual offices of national agencies from the Turkic states, to sign cooperation deals between news agencies and establish a common television channel.