The event is underway in Turkey's Istanbul and will end on October 24.
The 51st OANA session opened on Monday morning in the presence of the Director General of The Anadolu Agency. The Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Ali Naderi also delivered a speech at the event's opening ceremony.
At the beginning of the session, Anadolu Agency's Director General stressed the need to stop the bombing of civilians and hospitals in the Gaza Strip and called for respecting the responsibility and safety of war journalists.
During the event, Anadolu's Director General said that according to a study conducted by the University of Oxford in 37 countries in 2018, Tutkey has the highest exposure to disinformation with 49 percent. "We also observe that Asia-Pacific countries are also heavily exposed to disinformation. Because of this reason, “Cooperation Among News Agencies on Fighting Disinformation” is selected as this year’s conference theme."
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said that the bombing attacks carried out on hospitals, mosques, and churches by the Israeli regime's military Forces have resulted in the loss of thousands of civilian lives. "Targeting civilians is unacceptable, no matter who carries it out. As Anadolu, we condemn the targeting of civilians, which constitutes a violation of human rights and international law. "
Mehr News Agency is attending the meeting as a member of the technical committee.
Three Iranian news agencies - Mehr News, Fars News and Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) are members of the organization.
The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies is an association of news agencies from UNESCO member states in the Asia-Pacific region. It was previously known as the Organization of Asian News Agencies. It was formed in 1961 on UNESCO's initiative.
The organization covering two-thirds of the world population has now 43 members from 35 countries in Asia and Oceania.
Iran, as a long-standing member, was the rotating president from 1997 to 2000.
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