The second General Assembly of the Alliance of Turkic News Agencies (ATNA) took place in Kazakhstan's capital on November 6, The Caspian Post reports citing AZERTAC.
The meeting, hosted by “Qazcontent” agency, brought together heads and representatives of the AZERTAC (Azerbaijan), Anadolu Agency (Türkiye), Qazcontent (Kazakhstan), Khabar (Kyrgyzstan), UzA (Uzbekistan), as well as MTI (Hungary) news agencies.
Elshan Shahbalayev, Secretary General of the Alliance, announced the agenda of the meeting.
During the event, the Alliance approved its new logo, presented its official website, launched its social media pages, and elected its chairman for the 2025-2027 term. The two-year chairmanship has been officially transferred from Türkiye to Kazakhstan, and the Alliance will be chaired by JSC Qazcontent. Anadolu Agency and AZERTAC became the vice presidents of the Alliance. The Assembly also approved the admission of the Hungarian MTI agency to ATNA as an observer.
The participants agreed to organize photo and video contests focusing on tourism in Turkic countries.
The General Assembly agreed to hold the next General Assembly meeting of ATNA in Azerbaijan.
Yusuf Özhan, Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief of Anadolu Agency, noted that the agency is honored to chair the Alliance for the past two years.
In his remarks, Fuad Gadilli, Head of Technical Development of the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC) emphasized that one of the key goals of the Alliance is to accurately represent the Turkic world at the international level.
Aina Zadabek, Chairperson of the Board of JSC Qazcontent, announced plans for the next two years, which include the implementation of new initiatives, training sessions, experience exchange programs, and creative contests.
Nurjan Kasmalieva, Department Head of Khabar Agency, mentioned that the Alliance should become a platform for a unified and reliable voice of Turkish media, ensuring coordination and enhancing the information space.
The Kyrgyz agency representative said that ATNA could play a key role in combatting disinformation and building trust between societies.
István Zoltán Tóth, Content Director of MTI, mentioned that today, thanks to the digital era, countries access greater avenues opportunities for collaboration.
Javlonbek Azizov, UzA Editor-in-Chief, underscored that ATNA has achieved significant results in a remarkably short period.
The editor-in-chief of the Uzbek agency expressed his confidence that the meeting would mark a new stage in the Alliance’s development, adding that their joint efforts would make the voice of the Turkic states more effective globally.
The forum concluded with the adoption of a Joint Declaration by the second General Assembly of ATNA, which outlines the primary areas of cooperation for the coming years.
The Alliance of Turkic News Agencies (ATNA) was established on November 6, 2023, at the General Assembly held in Istanbul. The purpose of the alliance is to strengthen cooperation between Turkic news agencies, carry out operational information exchange, jointly fight against fake news, conduct trainings, and ensure the organization's integration into the global information environment.
