Director of Communications Altun: “Israel found the struggle for truth by our president against it.”
ISTANBUL
TRT World Forum 2023, which brings leaders together, started in Istanbul with the theme “Thriving Together: Responsibilities, Actions and Solutions”. Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, who delivered an opening speech at the program, stated that, “This time, Israel cannot easily manipulate world public opinion with its lies; it is confronted with the truth struggle we are waging under the leadership of our esteemed President.”
TRT World Forum 2023, a TRT event that shapes the world agenda, has started in Istanbul. More than 150 speakers from many different countries and more than a thousand participants from nearly a hundred countries take part in the event, which is being held for the seventh time this year. Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, who delivered an opening speech at the Forum, underlined strategic communication today and said, “Türkiye has not surrendered to disinformation campaigns that we encountered in different forms and contents for the last 10 years. Moreover, during the said past decade, Türkiye has not only established a line of resistance against disinformation campaigns and social media operations directed against it, it also tried to raise awareness among the international community," he said.
"This time, Israel cannot easily manipulate world public opinion with its lies, it is facing the struggle for truth that we present against it."
Stating that Israel has been seeking also to "murder the truth" in Gaza in recent times, Altun added "This time, Israel cannot easily manipulate world public opinion with its lies, it is facing the struggle for truth that we present against it. Soon after Israel's illegitimate and cruel attacks started, our President instructed us to establish a task force under the umbrella of Center for Countering Disinformation to combat Israel's disinformation attacks. In line with this instruction, we have formed a task force operating 24/7. We revealed hundreds of lies by Israel. Each revelation further deepened Israel's legitimacy crisis. While our President is fighting for the establishment of an independent, geographically in integrity, and strong Palestinian state and for the cessation of bloodshed in the region, on the other hand, with his vision and leadership, he has also been instrumental in preventing the attempts of the oppressors who shed blood from whitewashing themselves with false news." He stated that disinformation "has become an attitude, not a situation" and added "We must wage a scientific, transparent, organized and international fight against this attitude." Altun concluded his speech with the following "We should not allow perceptions to prevail over facts and lies to replace the truth."
“We exposed disinformative content produced through both conventional media tools and digital media environments, using the most effective communication channels.”
Underlining that Türkiye has both made legal regulations in this process and fought against the intentional spread of fake news an independent element of public policy with structures such as the Center for Combating Disinformation and the Confirmation Line, Fahrettin Altun said: “Türkiye has developed new models in terms of both social media literacy and individual fight against disinformation, through the collaborations and training programs it has carried out in national and international fields. Thanks to these efforts, we were able to effectively fight against dirty disinformation campaigns that aimed to trigger social fault lines and disrupt our social unity and integrity during the forest fires we experienced, the February 6 earthquakes that deeply injured our country, and the May 14 elections. We exposed the misleading contents produced through both conventional media tools and digital media environments by providing correct information, without wasting time and using the most effective communication channels, and we shared accurate and real information with the public instead of lies and fake contents."
Stating that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's efforts to regress the anti-democratic cultural hegemony in the media field, weaken the anti-national will attitude, and build instead a media eco-system that reflects our socio-political reality and is based on cultural pluralism and professional diversity, support this struggle, Altun said: “We are increasing our possibilities and capabilities in the field of combating disinformation day by day, and we are able to transfer the knowledge, technology and capabilities we have developed to friendly and allied countries. We carry out very productive activities in this context on international platforms, especially the Organization of Turkic States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Recently, we have seen that, both in the time of the global pandemic, in the Karabakh war, in the Russia-Ukraine war, and in the systematic oppression implemented by Israel in Gaza since October 7, with the right strategic communication moves, disinformation can be used in global and regional power struggles. We can prevent it from becoming a poisonous instrument,"
“Disinformation campaigns failed thanks to our President's truth-oriented politics.”
Stating that TRT World Forum is being organized with the theme "Thriving Together" this year and that we, as communities of the world, have common responsibilities to thrive together, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said "The main motive that brings us together today in this international platform, in Istanbul, is the endeavor to produce common solutions to our common problems. Because we are all aware that today we are tested by global injustice on the one hand, and global helplessness on the other. In this age of uncertainty, strategic communication has ceased to be a secondary element of public policies and international relations and has become an effective foreign policy instrument, while on the other hand, it has become one of the important topics of national security. The disinformative atmosphere created all over the world has reached a point where it threatens the political stability, democracy, public health and economic environment of countries. Türkiye is one of the main countries that has experienced this situation in the most drastic and earliest way," he said.
Stating that actors who are uncomfortable with Türkiye’s being an effective regional power and global player have used disinformation weapon against Türkiye extensively in the last decade, Altun said: “Gezi Park incident, FETO operations of 17-25 December, 15 July treacherous coup-looking invasion attempt… During all these events, Türkiye was exposed to severe disinformation attacks both from inside and outside. Fortunately, these disinformation campaigns were unsuccessful thanks to our President's truth-oriented policy.
Our President, from the early years of entering politics, perceived the era's anti-democratic, monolithic, and tutelary media system as a problem and fought against it. In this context, he made efforts to democratize the media and ensure pluralism and accountability in the field of mass communication. The political consciousness developed by our President during this process has brought about a political awareness that allowed producing rational and applicable resistance strategies against the disinformation campaigns that have deepened with the digital media order in our country. And thanks to this, Türkiye did not surrender to the disinformation campaigns that we have encountered in different forms and contents in the last decade. Moreover, during the said past decade, Türkiye has not only established a line of resistance against disinformation campaigns and social media operations directed against it, it also tried to raise awareness among the international community," he said.
