The "Türkiye-Balkans Media Forum" was held by the Directorate of Communications with the theme "Building a Shared Future in the Age of Communication".
Session title: "Türkiye's Friendly Hand Approach to the Balkans from the Perspective of Public Diplomacy"
Following the inauguration, a session titled “Türkiye's Friendly Hand Approach to the Balkans from the Perspective of Public Diplomacy” was held.
Following the opening speech by the Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun, Ambassador Yağmur Ahmet Güldere, Director General for the Balkans and Central Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took the floor. Güldere stated that they came together to address the media sector and emphasised that they attach great importance to peace and stability in the Balkans.
Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun stated the following in his speech at the Türkiye-Balkans Media Forum:
(In the context of the Russia-Ukraine war )
"Under the strong mediation of our President, Türkiye is doing and will continue to do its utmost to end the war."
The Balkan region should not be considered a “grey zone" under the influence of global powers or a “corridor and struggle zone between military-political alliances"
While fighting for global justice, we are also resolutely pursuing our goal of "a 'terror-free Türkiye'.
We are demonstrating a strong and determined will to solve the problem of terrorism permanently, and we are building a Türkiye free from terrorism step by step.
With the call of Devlet Bahçeli, the Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party, the determination of our President, as well as the support of our noble nation, we have passed the most critical threshold in this process. The terrorist organisation has declared its dissolution.
Over the years, we have lost tens of thousands of our citizens to terrorism. On this occasion, I commemorate our martyrs with mercy and gratitude and express my respect and gratitude to our veterans.
As our esteemed President has stated, we are aware that in the process of building a Terror-Free Türkiye, we must act with greater attention, care, patience, and responsibility than ever before.
We are closely monitoring attempts to sabotage the process, and we will not allow anyone to test the determination of our state in this regard. Broadcasting in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin, TRT Balkan and Anadolu Agency serve as a global platform that conveys the agenda and real and current issues of the region to the world.
Altun emphasised the importance of supporting public and private media organisations in Balkan countries in terms of content production, human resources, and institutional capacity for the sake of sharing Türkiye's experience with Balkan countries.