Hosted by our Directorate, the "Turkic States Forum on Combating Disinformation" was held in Ankara, bringing together senior officials and communication experts from the member and observer states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).
The Forum, which addressed joint strategies to combat disinformation and cooperation opportunities, opened with remarks by Deputy Secretary General of the OTS Ömer Kocaman (PhD) and Head of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Burhanettin Duran. This was followed by keynote addresses delivered by Executive Director of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ahmad Ismayilov, Vice Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Iskakov, Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic Marat Tagaev, Director of the Centre for the Production of Content for Mass Media under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Kobuljon Akhmedov, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.
Following the opening remarks, a presentation on Türkiye’s experiences in combating disinformation was delivered by the Coordinator of the Centre for Combating Disinformation at the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, Deniz Demir, who then moderated a panel titled “Examples of Disinformation Targeting the Turkic World and Counter-Disinformation Efforts.” Panel was attended by the Head of the Communication Policy Division of the Department for Work with NGOs and Communication of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Javid Musayev; Deputy Chairman of the Information Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ilyas Yesmagul; Chief Specialist of the Information Policy Department at the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Zarina Tashtanovna Kalmuratova; Head of Department at Centre for the Production of Content for Mass Media under the Administration of the President of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tokhir Umarov and the Director of the Turkish News Agency Fehmi Gürdallı as speakers.
Alongside the forum activities, the Heads of Delegations from OTS member and observer countries also participated in the Gala Dinner, which took place in tandem with a performance by the Ankara State Turkic World Music and Dance Ensemble.
On the second day of the forum, the panel on "Turkic Media's Role in Building a Common Future" was held, moderated by Gözde Kirişçioğlu (PhD), the International Media Coordinator at the Presidency's Directorate of Communications. Speaking at the session were Faig Mahmudov, Head of the International Relations and Analytics Department of Azerbaijan; Bolat Mursalim, Director of the Kazakhstan TV Channel; Akzhol Islamova, Journalist at the Editorial Office of MediaHub in Kyrgyzstan; Khamza Djumaev, Advisor to the Chairman of the State Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan on State Language, Spirituality and Educational Affairs; Prof Murat Tüzünkan, Vice Rector of Near East University in the TRNC, Javid Veliyev (PhD), Board Member of the Centre for Analysis for International Relations in Azerbaijan.
As part of the forum, Anadolu Agency (AA) Fact Check Line Manager Ömer Faruk Görçin delivered a presentation on “Next-Generation Journalism Practices and Verification Reflexes in the Pursuit of Reliable Information."
In the final segment of the programme, Ahmet Görmez, TRT's Deputy Director General for International Broadcasts, delivered a presentation on “TRT's Role and Approach in International Broadcasting” to outline TRT’s vision, while Yücel Kılıçkaya, TRT Avaz Channel Coordinator, addressed participants in a session titled “TRT Avaz: The Common Voice of the Turkic World, the Screen of Brotherhood.”
Over the two-day Forum, alongside panels, presentations, and speeches, social and cultural activities were organised to create an effective communication platform among Turkic States and to consolidate cooperation in the fight against disinformation.