By Christine Cudis/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Philippine News Agency (PNA) continually expands its global reach as it forges another partnership with Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s international state-run news agency, on Monday.
Anadolu Agency Deputy Director General Mustafa Özkaya, in his speech, said he is glad to “renew the cooperation agreement with PNA, the main and most important news source of the Republic of the Philippines”.
“I believe that with this agreement, we will contribute to Turkey-Philippines relations by sharing fast, reliable and impartial news about our countries,” Özkaya added.
PNA and Anadolu Agency have been partners in the previous years, with reporters and editors sent to Istanbul and Ankara for various journalism trainings.
News and Information Bureau Director Virginia Arcilla-Agtay cited the event as “no less a recording of history, as we further our partnership through connecting the communication of current news to and from Manila and Ankara, and from these cities to the people in our respective countries.”
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency is a seasoned agency, more than half of PNA’s 46.
With an age difference of 53 years, Arcilla-Agtay said Anadolu Agency is PNA’s grandfather in the world’s journalism industry.
Delegates from 99-year-old Anadolu Agency flew in from Turkey to sign the historic news exchange agreement with PNA.
With the signing of this agreement, Arcilla-Agtay expressed hope to continue to establish stronger ties with Turkey, especially with regards to information sharing and media cooperation.
The Memorandum of Agreement will also provide opportunities for exchanges of visits from our media practitioners, and a platform to share the best practices in the newsroom.
“We welcome Turkey’s engaging stories, and in reciprocity, the diversity of Philippine sensibilities from our reports,” Arcilla-Agtay added in her speech.
Through this sharing of information between our organizations, the two countries can promote our diverse culture, arts, and tourism.
Meanwhile, PNA Acting Executive Editor Luis Morente also expressed gratitude with the news exchange agreement.
“This agreement is very timely as we will be marking the 70th year of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Turkey which was first established on June 13 1949,” Morente said.
The Turkish Embassy in Manila was opened on Oct. 17, 1990, while The Philippine Embassy in Istanbul was opened a year later in 1991.
Anadolu Agency will be able to share news from the Philippines to the world in 13 languages.
As both members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), this agreement will also help OANA reach its goals in the Asia-Pacific region.
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