News on Anadolu Agency office closure in Middle East not true


Anadolu Agency's Directorate General has released an official statement to clarify the status of its office in the Egyptian capital of Cairo."Stories about the closure of the central office of Anadolu Agency's Middle East-Africa Regional Directorate in Cairo are not true," Anadolu Agency Directorate General said in the statement Thursday."Anadolu Agency has reduced staff numbers at its office in Cairo due to problems like the recent limitation of independent journalism opportunities in Egypt and the failure of the Egyptian Information Ministry to renew the Agency's accreditation. Our correspondents have not been granted accreditation at official press meetings and there are security concerns for our staff as well," the statement said."However, our expectation from Egyptian authorities for accreditation continues and in the mean time our office in Cairo will continue its operations. In addition, the central office of the Agency's Arabic News Service has been moved to Istanbul and some of the personnel from the Cairo office continue their work in Istanbul and Ankara," the statement added.