Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun stated that the 100th anniversary of the Republic marks the start of the Century of Türkiye, a new era in which Türkiye will have a significant influence on the world as a global player, adding, "This matter requires thorough and comprehensive preparation. During the past 21 years, Türkiye has successfully demonstrated its preparedness under the leadership of our President."
Altun evaluated the current issues and answered questions in the Enine Boyuna TV programme on TRT-1.
In response to the criticism in public opinion that "Are we focusing on Gaza during the celebration of the Republic's 100th anniversary? Are we forgetting the 100th anniversary of the Republic?" Director of Communications Altun said,
"For us, the 100th anniversary of the Republic marks the start of the Century of Türkiye, a new era in which Türkiye will have a significant influence on the world as a global player. This matter requires thorough and comprehensive preparation. During the past 21 years, Türkiye has successfully demonstrated its preparedness under the leadership of our President."
Altun emphasised that Türkiye has developed significant capacity in many areas, including foreign policy, culture, healthcare, and transportation, and went on to say,
"This capacity was developed primarily in preparation for the Century of Türkiye. On the occasion of the Republic of Türkiye's centennial celebration today, the nation is not only commemorating its past with various programmes, feeling glory and honour, but also embracing its current status as a regional power and global player. Republic Day, observed on October 29th, is one of the most fundamental elements of our history and identity. Our state has consistently acted with a high level of preparedness. While long-term projects were brought to Türkiye under the leadership of our President in the past, it is evident that October 29 was symbolically chosen for a specific reason. On October 29, numerous important inaugurations were conducted, and the projects are still in place. We are not referring to a celebration consisting solely of a reception."
The Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun explained that Marmaray, Ankara High-Speed Train Station, and Istanbul Airport were opened on October 29 in different years. Additionally, the Atatürk Cultural Centre, which was at the centre of street movements and even cited as a reason for the coup attempt due to its impending demolition, was opened on October 29, 2021. He mentioned that the TOGG Gemlik Facility was opened, and the first Togg vehicle was unloaded on October 29, 2022.
Over 24,000 projects related to the 100th anniversary
Director of Communications Altun stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been leading the efforts undertaken by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications for the past two years in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Republic. President Erdoğan has entrusted the coordination of all activities related to the 100th anniversary to the Directorate of Communications, involving various state institutions and organisations. These initiatives can be found at "yuzuncuyil.gov.tr".
Director of Communications Altun stated that more than 24 thousand projects related to the 100th anniversary were carried out in total throughout the country and in all foreign representations, with the contribution of 56 institutions, using the project tracking system within the Directorate of Communications.
Altun expressed that the 100th anniversary celebrations will continue until the end of the year, and added,
"Our Republic has been the Republic of our nation since its inception and continues to be so. It represents the governing system of our state, which is the final successor of the illustrious and honourable Turkish states of the past, which will endure for eternity. Here, in this state, we are striving to promote peace and prosperity in the world today, just as we have done in the past. We will continue to work and become even stronger. It is of utmost importance to commemorate this 100th anniversary in a symbolic manner. However, it is equally important to conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the Century of Türkiye."
In response to the question, "Do some social segments in Türkiye really discuss the Republic correctly?", Director of Communications Altun described these social segments as a privileged group and provided the following response:
"This privileged group refuses to let go of their sense of cultural superiority because they believe they have lost the opportunities and advantages they have enjoyed for many years due to various reasons. As a result, they engage in artificial debates out of fear of losing their remaining advantages."
Stating that in 21 years, there have been extremely interesting and artificial regime debates that have nothing to do with reality, Altun continued his remarks:
"We have had many regime debates, which we have forgotten today, but historians will see that in these 21 years, we have seen people produce challenging, artificial regime debates with no real social resonance or even a real political context. I will not mention any of them because these issues do not merit a lengthy discussion. Unfortunately, we have lived through periods when the public was preoccupied with regime debates, such as who should be invited to Republic Day receptions, and the energy of the Republic of Türkiye, its nation, and its state was wasted."
"The last 21 years are as honourable as the founding period of our Republic"
Stating that President Erdoğan is striving to make Türkiye a more prosperous country, Director of Communications Altun stated that such an effort requires being ambitious and that this cannot be achieved in an environment where the economy and foreign policy are dependent.
Director of Communications Altun noted:
"For many years, when Türkiye was part of an international system of dependency, it could not pursue such a policy. This was not due to fault or poor leadership on the part of our previous administration, but rather to the unfortunate procedures they were forced to implement. Our President displayed courage, ripped up these procedures, and said, "Türkiye is not a country to be ruled by the West." Türkiye is not a country to be governed by Brussels or Washington; it is a country to be governed by Ankara. Türkiye should be governed by an administration focusing on the problems of İstanbul, Diyarbakır, Aydın, Artvin, and all other regions. Regardless of the outcome, we have amassed tremendous wealth over the past century. It is extremely valuable for Türkiye to bring this wealth to the international stage. This is the mindset and awareness we are bringing to the 100th anniversary celebrations. The next 100 years are our 100 years. However, we advise these privileged groups to embrace the last 21 years, which constitute a significant portion of this century. The last 21 years, like our Republic's founding era, have been very honourable, and this is the era during which the Republic has seen the highest number of politics based on projects and services. Therefore, this history is the history of all of us, the history of the entire public, and the history of the entire nation. In the same way that the Republic belongs to the public and the nation as a whole, when viewed from this perspective, embracing these 21 years will really help to normalise marginal elements and political elements that unfortunately remain marginal. I hope that the 100th anniversary of our Republic will help and contribute to raising awareness in this regard."
Emphasising that Türkiye is a country with ambition, Director of Communications Altun said that the first half of the last 21 years was Türkiye's struggle to become a regional power, while the other half was Türkiye's struggle to become a global actor. Director of Communications Altun stated that Türkiye is an influential and reputable regional power and a global actor today, and he went on to explain how Türkiye's hard power capacity, international intelligence capability, and strategic communication tools give it serious capabilities in many fields.
Director of Communications Altun said, "Our President's vision and road map are very clear. Both process communication and crisis communication are our President's very clear, well-researched policies and processes that are always emphasised and will continue to be emphasised. As a result of this process, Türkiye will hopefully continue to improve the welfare of its citizens while also serving world peace."
"More than 1000 international media organisations were compelled to use the verified facts we provided"
In response to a question, the Director of Communications Altun addressed the work of the Centre for Combating under the Directorate of Communications on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Altun stated that there is a systematic manipulation and effort to mislead the international community on this issue, citing the fact that the Israeli army controls a significant portion of the mainstream Western media and is able to have its bulletins published by the Western media without any alteration.
Stating that they are waging an information war against this and that they are making intense efforts to tell the truth, the facts, and the veracity to the whole world, Director of Communications Altun said, "The Centre for Combating Disinformation of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications has exposed more than 70 lies that have been circulated in the Western media since October 7, refuted them, and told the truth. However, more than 1000 international media organisations were compelled to use the verified facts we provided in their reporting."
Director of Communications Altun pointed out that the disinformation process on this issue is carried out not by anonymous accounts on social media but by the President of the US, Israeli officials, and other US officials.
"Crimes against humanity are being committed right in front of humanity's eyes"
Director of Communications Altun stated that humanity is going through a very difficult period and that a terrible massacre, a horrendous war, and grave war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in front of humanity's eyes, emphasising that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been working on this issue with a very consistent and principled attitude from the start.
Stating that the world has remained silent about the tragedy in Gaza, Director of Communications Altun said:
"The reason for this silence is systematic cruelty; the reason for this silence is the silence maintained about the genocide against Muslims, Palestinians, and Gazans. Our President has repeatedly stated that this systematic silence is complicity, and I would like to emphasise it once again; unfortunately, we see a heart-breaking complicity here."
Director of Communications Altun recalled that President Erdoğan once again taught the whole world a lesson in humanity with a map from the United Nations (UN) podium and asked, "Where are the borders of Israel? Where are the borders of Palestine?" and he said, ''The efforts of our President ensured that this problem was acknowledged by the world and identified as a crisis, a problem, a war crime, a crime against humanity."
Altun explained that President Erdoğan's leader-to-leader diplomacy contributed significantly to the international relations literature and that he met with nearly 30 leaders during the crisis to present his proposals for a solution.
Director of Communications Altun stated that President Erdoğan's proposals in this process were very concrete and clear, and that a European statesman told President Erdoğan, "We cannot react to Israel as you do because of our history," during their meeting about this crisis. Recognising this fact, our President, with the self-assurance that comes from a glorious and proud past, invites the West to the negotiating table to solve this problem and to be partners in this solution."
Director of Communications Altun stated that condemning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a stalemate would lead to regional instability and a world without peace, and added, "The guarantee of world peace is truly possible with the resolution of this crisis and the establishment of a secure, long-lasting peace. For this reason, under the leadership of our President, we have continued our long-term initiatives and will continue to do so."
Stating that the most important issue is to ensure a humanitarian ceasefire as soon as possible and to maintain it permanently, Altun emphasised that the decision taken by the UN two days ago with the support of 120 countries is vital in this sense and said, "Those who voted against the decision will be recorded in history, while those who abstained are complicit.''
Emphasising that one should never remain insensitive to the current tragedy, Director of Communications Altun noted:
"The most important issue is to establish a ceasefire, establish a humanitarian corridor as soon as possible and quickly heal the wounds of the people there through this humanitarian corridor. On the other hand, there are numerous demolished structures that must be promptly cleared and the affected areas must be reconstructed."
Director of Communications Altun said that Türkiye's guarantorship offer is very important for the solution of the problem and reminded that Erdoğan also expressed the issue of holding a peace conference.
Emphasising that President Erdoğan's speech from yesterday was a "historical manifesto", Director of Communications Altun noted:
"The game played in Gaza is not only a game played against our Palestinian brothers and sisters; it is a game played against the entire region, particularly Türkiye." Strategically, breaking this game is indispensable for Türkiye's independence, stability, and future."