ANKARA
The first copy of the special collection edition of The Anadolu Agency’s book series “AA Was There” has been presented to Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan.
The three-volume series in Turkish, English and Arabic covers war and revolution in Egypt, Gaza and Syria.
AA Director-General Kemal Ozturk presented the books to Akdogan at AA headquarters in Ankara on Monday.
"The special collection edition will not be available at bookstores. These copies will only be presented to the president, prime minister, ministers and collectors," Ozturk said.
"We hope that collectors will save these books for long years to come, and the books will appear in auctions 50 years from now," he said.
Akdogan praised the agency for its hard work in producing the book series.
"Each and every event that happens in the world concerns all of us. The Anadolu Agency is performing a very important function in this regard," the deputy prime minister said.
The special collection edition is limited to only 500 copies.
The books – "War, Blockade, Resistance: Gaza"; "The Incomplete Revolution: Egypt"; and "The Orphaned Nation: Syria" – include first-hand witness accounts by AA's field correspondents.
Some 30 reporters and correspondents worked to create "The Incomplete Revolution: Egypt" under AA Director-General Kemal Ozturk as chief editor.
There are three chapters in the book, including: Egypt's recent history; the fall of Hosni Mubarak; and the coup staged by the General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi which removed the country’s first elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
"War, Blockade, Resistance: Gaza" includes: Palestine's recent history, including the impact of Palestine's iconic leader Yasser Arafat; Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's famous “One Minute” reaction at the Davos economic summit in 2009; and Israel's 51-day operation in the Gaza Strip which left some 2,147 Gazans – mostly civilians – dead.
"The Orphaned Nation: Syria" begins with the country’s political history and examines the hunger, deaths and sorrow which the devastating civil war has brought.
Each book contains exclusive images from AA photojournalists.
The Anadolu Agency aims to become one of the world’s five most influential news agencies by 2020 on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.
www.aa.com.tr/en
