Davutoğlu congratulates Today’s Zaman on third anniversary

Today’s Zaman was launched on Jan. 16, 2007 with the aim of presenting a clear picture of Turkey to the Anglophone world. It is currently published in hard copy and online, with around 3.5 million page views on average, mostly by international readers visiting the newspaper’s Web site daily.

“Today’s Zaman has filled in a huge gap,” Davutoğlu said during his visit to the office on Monday evening. He was accompanied by his private secretary Gürcan Balık from the Foreign Ministry and media consultant Osman Sert.

While praising the newspaper in regards to both its “print quality and content” as well as the proficiency of its language use -- which is provided thanks to its professional copy-editors -- Davutoğlu said: “I don’t know if there is a certain measure of years to determine whether a newspaper is sufficiently mature or not. But Today’s Zaman has already surpassed that threshold if it exists.”

Davutoğlu, known for his deep compassion for children, chatted with two sons of Today’s Zaman’s Parliament Bureau Chief Ali Aslan Kılıç, Alpaslan and Alperen, and cut Today’s Zaman’s modest birthday cake with Alperen.

Today’s Zaman staff, joined by fellow colleagues from sister media bodies Turkish Zaman daily, Cihan news agency and Aksiyon weekly journal, enjoyed Davutoğlu’s conversation about city culture and city history, as he explained how he associated the characters of cities with their relationship with civilizations.

The foreign minister, a well-regarded professor of political science and international relations who was the prime minister’s chief foreign policy adviser from 2002 until he was appointed to his current post in May, is known for policies which reflect a deep understanding of history and political impact, requiring today’s journalists covering Turkish foreign policy to have a full background knowledge of world and Turkish political history.

There is a saying in Turkish which explains a tradition: A guest doesn’t pay a visit with empty hands. Before leaving Today’s Zaman office to prepare for yet another visit abroad, as he was scheduled to head for Riyadh on Tuesday morning with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Davutoğlu offered a fine silver plate decorated with İznik glazed tiles (çini) to Today’s Zaman Ankara Bureau Chief Abdullah Bozkurt as a remembrance of his visit.