ISTANBUL
Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) held a ceremony in Istanbul in which the "TASAM Strategic Vision Awards" were presented for the seventh year in a row.
Among those dignitaries receiving an award was Anadolu Agency's Board Chairman and Director General Kemal Ozturk.
TASAM presented Kemal Ozturk with an award in the "Journalist-Writer with Strategic Vision" category.
Anadolu Agency's Director of the Istanbul Regional Office, Mustafa Ekici, received Ozturk's award.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mustafa Ekici thanked the TASAM for the award on behalf of Kemal Ozturk.
"Kemal Ozturk presented the Anadolu Agency as an alternative against the global news monopoly when he began his tenure a year ago with the vision of making the AA an agency broadcasting in 11 different languages in 2020 (when AA will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its foundation), having a global news network and being one of the most effective five news agencies in the world," Ekici stressed.
"Anadolu Agency is the voice of those without sound. The AA has been the voice of those oppressed in Arakan, Mali, Syria, Gaza, Egypt and other countless regions of crisis. In a news monopoly system where 80 percent of the news flow through only three centers (London, Paris and New York), the Anadolu Agency is making progress rapidly in becoming an alternative voice and a new center. I thank TASAM for presenting this award to the architect of this whole process, Kemal Ozturk," Ekici underlined.
Journalists Lutfu Sahsuvaroglu and Mehmet Ali Birand were also given awards in the same category.
