AA director general says OIC member states should establish news agencies alliance

ISTANBUL (A.A) - December 1, 2011 - Anadolu Agency (AA) director general and chairperson of the AA Executive Board said on Thursday that member states of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should establish news agencies alliance. Kemal Ozturk said that there was not any union, an alliance, a common web-page or an agreement which brought together news agencies of OIC member states. "We think that the groundwork of such an organization should be laid, and we are in an intense effort to lay such a groundwork," Ozturk said during the Turkish-Arab Media Forum in Istanbul. Ozturk said AA was planning to invite those news agencies to a conference in Turkey in 2012, and brief them on its alliance initiatives. The director general said AA had the opportunity to promote Arabic bulletin it was planning to launch soon, and said he was sure that other news agencies also had the opportunity to share their plans during the forum.  Ozturk regretted that there was not a direct and clear news flow with Arab news agencies, and those news agencies were providing stories about the region through Europe or the United States, particularly from Reuters, AP or AFP. AA Director General Ozturk said therefore, Turkey had proposed establishment of news agencies association among news agencies of OIC member states. "I think that there will be more discussions and views about establishment of such a union in coming days," Kemal Ozturk also said.