Anadolu Agency


Anadolu Agency is a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey.

History

The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence. 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.
Since the Justice and Development Party took power, AA and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation were both restructured to more closely reflect the government line. This tighter degree of government control over AA and TRT, along with increasing government influence over private media, has contributed to the formation of a hegemonic, dominant-party system in Turkey. 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."