By Mohammad Abu Don
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – On the centennial of Anadolu Agency's foundation, many Palestinian factions voiced their gratitude for the Turkey’s leading news agency trumpeting the struggle of Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation to the whole world.
– Fatah movement
Iyad Naser, a spokesman for the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Anadolu Agency “was and is still considered one of the main media outlets concerned to cover the situation in Palestine and the Israeli assaults and violations against the Palestinian people."
“Its coverage is characterized with objectivity and it aligns with the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.”
He also added that the Agency distanced itself from the Palestinian internal differences and the splits among the Palestinian groups.
“Anadolu Agency preserved itself to be well-respected by all Palestinians and its correspondents in Palestine are in good contact with all,” Naser said.
He concluded by saying that Anadolu Agency is moving forward in competing as a world media outlet with its coverage expanding all around the world.
– Hamas
Hamas spokesman Hazim Qasim emphasized the important role Anadolu Agency is performing in covering the Palestinians’ events, as well as others at the Arab and international levels.
On the centennial of Turkey’s top news provider, he said: “This means that it is one of the most prestigious media outlets in the world where it has lived around the important events of the globe.”
“Anadolu Agency focuses, with its coverage in Palestine, on exposing the oppression the Palestinians endure due to the Israeli occupation, this was seen in its coverage of the major Israeli aggressions against the Gaza strip in addition to its coverage of the Israeli violations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem,” Qasim added.
– Islamic Jihad Movement
“Anadolu Agency tends to have a pioneering experience in the media field which reflects the successes achieved by the Turkish Republic in different aspects,” said Daoud Shehab, a spokesman of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.
He hailed Anadolu Agency for the attention it pays to the Palestinian cause, as it has covered all aspects of the conflict with Israel and has kept pace with all events in Palestine.
“On the 100th anniversary of Anadolu Agency, we salute the consecutive generations of staff workers who worked with the agency, especially those who covered the main events at the international level during the past ten years,” Shehab said.
– Higher National Commission for the Great March of Return
For his part, Talal Abu Zarifa, member of the Higher National Commission for the Great March of Return, extended the commission’s congratulations to Anadolu Agency for its centennial, especially to the agency staff in Palestine.
Abu Zarifa, who is also a member of political bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the Anadolu Agency staff in Palestine has a good reputation among the Palestinian groups by their professional coverage over the past years.
“The distinguished coverage for Anadolu Agency contributed to conveying the Palestinian daily life to the entire world, hence it publishes news in different languages,” Abu Zarifa said.
Anadolu Agency on April 6, 2020 celebrates its centennial. It was established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, in a bid to tell the world the struggle of the Turkish nation.
Anadolu Agency currently currently produces news in 13 languages — Turkish, English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Kurdish in two dialects, Kurmanji and Sorani, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Russian, Albanian, Persian, Macedonian and Indonesian.
As a global news agency, Anadolu is among the ten most influential media outlets in the world, providing its subscribers in more than 90 countries with thousands of news stories, photos, videos, infographics and other information-based content through its global network of correspondents and photojournalists in 86 countries.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara.
