Anadolu Agency (Turkish: Anadolu Ajansı, lit.'Anatolia Agency'; abbreviated AA) is a state-run[1][2] news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey.[3]

Anadolu Agency
Anadolu Ajansı
Company typeJoint-stock company
IndustryNews agency
Founded6 April 1920; 103 years ago (1920-04-06)
FoundersMustafa Kemal Pasha
Halide Edib Adıvar
Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu
HeadquartersÇankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Key people
Serdar Karagöz (Director-General, Chairman of the Board)
Number of employees
3,800
Websitewww.aa.com.tr/en/

History edit

The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence by the order of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. As the Empire's capital – Constantinople – was under the Ottoman sultans' control, all newspapers were also under the sultan's rule along with British occupiers, and it was necessary for the revolutionary government to establish a communication and news network for Anatolia and Rumelia.[4] Journalist Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu and writer Halide Edip, fleeing the occupied capital, met in Geyve and concluded that a new Turkish press agency was needed. The agency was officially launched on April 6, 1920, 17 days before the Turkish Grand National Assembly convened for the first time. It announced the first legislation passed by the Assembly, which established the Republic of Turkey.[5]

After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) took power, AA and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) were both restructured to more closely reflect the administration line. According to a 2016 academic article, "these public news producers, especially during the most recent term of the AKP government, have been controlled by officials from a small network close to the party leadership."[6]

Anadolu Agency is an active member of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA).[7]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Syria war: Rebels 'withdraw heavy weapons from Idlib buffer zone', BBC News (October 8, 2018): "Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency..."
  2. ^ Turkish Employee of US Consulate to Remain in Custody, Associated Press (March 28, 2019): "the state-run Anadolu Agency reported."
  3. ^ "UN journalists visit Anadolu Agency headquarters". AA. 5 May 2017.
  4. ^ Mustafa Aksakal; et al. (2023). "The Ottoman Empire". In Marysa Demoor (ed.). The Edinburgh Companion to First World War Periodicals. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 478. doi:10.1515/9781474494724-033. ISBN 9781474494724.
  5. ^ "History". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  6. ^ Irak, Dağhan (2016). "A Close-Knit Bunch: Political Concentration in Turkey's Anadolu Agency through Twitter Interactions". Turkish Studies. 17 (2): 336–360. doi:10.1080/14683849.2016.1138287. S2CID 155656756.
  7. ^ "EANA Member Agencies". www.newsalliance.org. Retrieved 2023-04-18.

External links edit