Anatolia News Agency celebrates 90th anniversary with reception in parliament

A large crowd of Cabinet ministers, deputies, and current and former journalists gathered yesterday at a reception in Parliament hosted by Anatolia News Agency Director-General Hilmi Bengi to celebrate the agency's 90th anniversary. Among the state officials in attendance were Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, who is also responsible for the agency, Deputy Prime Ministers Cemil Cicek and Ali Babacan, State Minister Mehmet Aydin, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, Parliament's Human Rights Monitoring Commission head Zafer Uskul, and Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hasim Kilic. During the reception, participants watched a presentation on Anatolia and its history, and enjoyed a performance by famous pianist Tuluyhan Ugurlu. In related news, during a ceremony at Anatolia's headquarters in Ankara marking the anniversary, Arinc said the agency has the potential to transform itself into a global brand. "We want Anatolia, Turkey's biggest news agency, which has stood on its own feet for nearly a century, to become a international contender that will take on and even best large, well-established world agencies," Arinc said. "In my view, its photographers and reporters are a mirror reflecting this country's success story to the world." Arinc also said that in its reporting Anatolia has been guided by the principles of accuracy, objectivity and speed. Arinc later launched a digital archive of the agency's stories since 1969. The Anatolia News Agency, established in 1920 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, is Turkey's biggest news agency and one of the world's premier wire services.