By Mahmut Atanur and Ainur Rohmah

JAKARTA

In a landmark expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, Anadolu Agency launched a news service in Indonesian and opened its Pacific Central Office in Jakarta on Monday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Anadolu Agency Deputy Director-General Mustafa Ozkaya said Anadolu Agency is the only international news agency to run a news service in Indonesian.

Ozkaya said Indonesia is a priority country for Anadolu Agency with its population of more than 260 million and its critical location in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We are ready to spread Indonesia’s news to the world with our experienced global network of correspondents and photojournalists," Ozkaya said.

He added that Turkey and Indonesia should increase and strengthen bilateral ties, adding that running an Indonesian news service is a great step towards this end.

Ozkaya said Anadolu Agency's Pacific Central Office in Jakarta will help build a bridge between Turkey, Indonesia, and the greater region.

"We are quite excited to be here and starting doing news in Indonesian. Starting today, we believe with all our heart that friendship ties between Turkey and Indonesia will strengthen in all parts of life," he stressed.

High interest from Indonesian media

For her part, Rosarita Niken, director general for public information and communications at Indonesia’s Communications and Information Technology Ministry, said Anadolu Agency's Indonesian service will help build better ties between Turkey and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency Indonesia bureau chief Dandy Koswaraputra said the Jakarta office started work this July. With a crew of 20 journalists spread across Jakarta, Ankara, and Istanbul, it produces about 50 news stories and scores of photos and videos daily.

Koswaraputra said the Indonesian media are showing great interest in Anadolu Agency's Indonesian news service, adding that they have already attracted 10 subscribers from various media organs.

The office in the capital as part of Anadolu Agency’s Pacific presence serves both as the central office in the region and is home to the Bahasa Indonesian News Desk.

A total of 16 people work at the Indonesian desk, including one editor, two publishers, two translators, nine correspondents, one cameraman, and one administrative assistant.

There also two Indonesians based in Ankara translating Turkish stories into Indonesian.

The Indonesian desk produces some 700-1,000 news articles a month, mostly on politics, terrorism, defense, culture/lifestyle, and regional issues.

There are also 30 freelance reporters in the region that provide Anadolu Agency with photographs and videos.

The main reason for establishing an Indonesian desk is to convey the reality and truth about Turkey to counter biased news stories published by other media outlets.

Multilingual agency

Since its establishment in 1920, Anadolu Agency has reported in a host of languages besides Turkish, including English, Arabic, Russian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, French, Kurdish-Sorani, Kurdish-Kurmanchi, Persian, Albanian, Spanish, and Macedonian.

The Indonesian language news service became the 12th language service. At the same time, Anadolu Agency is also preparing for the launch of the 13th language service, Spanish, on Thursday.

Currently, Anadolu Agency has 1,694 subscribers from 45 countries. It has offices in more than 40 cities worldwide, with journalist representatives in 97 countries and employees of 74 nationalities.

Anadolu Agency is one of world’s 10 most influential news agencies. With 97 years of experience, it provides thousands of news articles, photos, videos, infographics, and statistics to people around the globe.

*Fatih Hafiz Mehmet also contributed to this story from Ankara.