XV General Assembly of OANA

On June 19 in Moscow the 15th General Assembly of the Organization of News Agencies in Asia and the Pacific started. OANA was established in 1961 on the initiative of UNESCO to facilitate the exchange of information in the Asia-Pacific region. Today, the organization brings together the leaders of 44 news agencies from 35 countries. The South Caucasus is represented by delegates from Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. News executives meet once every three years. The decision to hold a commemorative assembly in the Russian capital was made in 2010 in Istanbul, where the ITAR -TASS news agency was elected chairman of the Assembly. The grand opening of the Assembly at the World Trade Center was attended by the country's leadership, the ambassadors of Syria, Indonesia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, the heads of international organizations: the United Nations, UNESCO, the SCO and ASEAN. Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory letter to the participants. The president of Russia wished OANA fruitful work and expressed the hope that active dialogue can help develop a balanced approach to the coverage of acute problems, a balanced and unified position, the media should play a meaningful, responsible role in their solution. The Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, noted the critical importance of OANA as the largest media organization. Member countries account for 2/ 3 of the total volume of global information flow. In her speech, the Chairwoman of the Federation Council did not fail to mention the Syrian issue.