Moscow is hosting the 15th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies today, attended by 45 states. Turkey's Anatolia Agency will pass on the chairmanship of the organization to ITAR-TASS.
Kemal Ozturk, Director General of the Anatolia General, noted that information agencies were responsible for giving true information about the events in the Middle East. He believes that mass media do not reflect events in Syria and Egypt properly.
Ozturk said that 105,000 people had died since the start of the conflict in Syria. He noted that journalists should be free and safe. About 20 journalists were in jail or detention in Syria, he added. About 30 journalists suffered the same violations in Egypt. About 12 bureaus and agencies closed down in Egypt.
Sergey Mikhaylov, Director General of ITAR-TASS, said that heads of agencies will try to have more meetings. Commenting on the challenges information agencies were facing, he pointed out the problem of access to information.
