New agendas of agency journalism in focus at Turkic News Agencies Media Summit hosted by Anadolu

ISTANBUL

New agendas of agency journalism was in focus on Monday as news agencies from the Turkic countries convened for the Turkic News Agencies Media Summit hosted by Anadolu in Istanbul's Yesilkoy.

At the summit, in which the Alliance of Turkic News Agencies (ATNA) was officially founded, also a panel titled "New Agendas of News Agency Journalism in the Turkic World" was held.

In the panel moderated by Anadolu's Deputy Director-General and Editor-in-Chief, Yusuf Ozhan, participants emphasized the fight against disinformation and mentioned that special studies should be carried out for countries to know each other better.

Vugar Aliyev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), said that he believes that Turkish news agencies will come together and become stronger.

Emphasizing that fake news is spreading rapidly, especially on social media, and therefore, new ways should be sought in the fight against fake news, Aliyev said, "Cooperation between Turkish agencies should be at work, not remain on paper."

Aliyev stated that they clearly saw the support of Anadolu in the Karabakh War and underlined that in addition to transferring information, they also took important steps against the propaganda of the Armenian side.

Turkic countries should get to know each other better

Kyrgyzstan National News Agency (Kabar) Director-General Mederbek Shermetaliev said, "This summit is a new page for all of us."

Pointing out that in addition to fighting against disinformation, the new union should also work on the culture and history of other countries, Shermetaliev said, "Our languages and religion are the same, but each people has their own civilization."

'We can overcome the alphabet barrier'

Bekzat Zhussupov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan's Qazcontent, stated that there are deep historical ties between his country and Türkiye and emphasized the importance of cooperation in the field of media between the countries of the Turkic world.

Zhussupov said, "I thank Anadolu Agency for hosting this summit."

Pointing out that there was not much difference between languages 100 years ago, Zhussupov noted that alphabets are different today, but this can be overcome with the media.

Zhussupov said, "Our contacts between national television channels have increased and we have exchanged content. Today is the new media and information age, it is very important that we increase this cooperation."

Stating that they support the provision of accurate and fast information in the field of media among the Turkish world, Zhussupov said, "We started to carry out the 'stop fake' project in Kazakhstan and carried out various projects to ensure the accuracy of the news."

On the other hand, Zhussupov, who shared the information that they brought important names of Turkish literature together with Kazakh readers, said that cooperation can be increased by using history, cinema, literature and even new media technologies with programs and competitions.

'Everyone should speak their native language at the next summit'

Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA) Director-General Abdisait Kuchimov stated that "we are living in a period where the flow of misinformation is very fast and that this situation can negatively affect not only individuals but also states."

Pointing out that the media can distort information on the axis of certain political forces and empty the content of concepts, Kuchimov said, "The media should deliver accurate and fast information to its readers. Today, as Turkic states, we have signed an important cooperation in this field," referring to the newly-formed alliance ATNA.

Noting that they aim to strengthen their ties with the world media, especially the Turkish world, Kuchimov underlined that they want to continue media cooperation in the fields of history, language and culture by inviting everyone to speak their native language as of the next summit.

Alliance of Turkic News Agencies established

At the summit held in Istanbul, the ATNA was established with the participation of representatives of 5 agencies.

President & CEO of Türkiye's Anadolu Agency, Serdar Karagoz, Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC) board chairman Vugar Aliyev, Kyrgyz National News Agency (Kabar) Director-General Mederbek Shermetaliev, Kazakh news agency Qazcontent's board chairman Bekzat Zhussupov, Uzbekistan National News Agency (UZA) Director-General Abdisait Kuchimov jointly signed the document that officially formed the union.