The International Strategic Communication Summit 2023 (Stratcom Summit '23), which was organised by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, featured an address by Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç, the Chief Advisor to the President, on the subject of "Effective Diplomacy in Countering Hybrid Threats."
Citing the multitude of struggles occurring across the globe, Kılıç emphasised the significance of being unified in a city that bridges civilisations, history, cultures, and the social lives of individuals.
Kılıç reflected on an experience he had while serving as a member of parliament abroad, saying:
"I was on a visit abroad. I was sitting across a member of a family that had immigrated there from Türkiye and was sitting in parliament asked me, 'Why did the President of Türkiye not reply to the letter that the President of Armenia wrote to him suggesting the creation of a joint commission?' The subject was somewhat relevant to the state of affairs with Armenia during that period. My initial response was: 'Please get rid of your advisors. They are misinforming you. The letter was written by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye, and addressed to the President of Armenia. Armenia was the one that did not reply. Türkiye was the one that opened its archives.' This is the first layer of the deal; the second layer of it is that the person who secured a position as an MP through this false information will vote. When their parliament is presented with a bill or a debate on a bill, this person will deliver speeches, form opinions, reach a conclusion, and cast a vote. The outcome of the vote will have an impact on the legislation, which will have an impact on citizens, which will then have an impact on international relations, given that this is an international matter."
Identifying the outcome as a hybrid threat, Kılıç explained, "It will spread across social media and be discussed on a variety of platforms. Some people and organisations—which may be non-governmental organisations or anything else—that are ignorant about the matter, neglect to look into it, and regard that person as credible will take it and launch an offensive campaign against you on social media. A lot of pressure is on social media, and the cycle will start. Then what will ensue? Türkiye becomes the target of a social media attack from country X. This is a hybrid threat, and the attack has started."
Kılıç noted that disinformation-focused institutions will assume control in Türkiye following the hybrid threat, saying, "For instance, organisations like the Directorate of Communications will say, 'Wait a minute, there is something going on. This is an instance of disinformation that we, the state, must combat. We need to get to work.' Hurrah, reactions will start to pour in from that side in opposition to the threat and attack in question. The dispute will escalate until it reaches the decision-makers. Then what? When decision-makers convene in person, one will say to the other, 'My country is being attacked unjustly by your country.' The other person will respond, 'I'm not aware; let's take a look.' This is the trajectory of this cycle. Then what? Relations will be strained."
Kılıç emphasised the process, adding, "But there is a bitter taste, isn't there? Where did it come from? It evolved from a simple, tiny, small fuse, which may not have appeared to be significant in the beginning."
"What have we rebelled against as Türkiye via our President?"
Referring to the message sent by President Erdoğan to the summit, Kılıç said, "Our President has already shared with you in his message in the morning how difficult the world systems are; he also reveals it in his speeches, but when you come closer to the present after October 7, in my personal opinion, what have we rebelled against as Türkiye via our President? When you are only interested in today's outcome of a situation that has occurred before, that has come to this point, the causes of which are obvious, when some of your burdens from history do not allow you to speak freely, you end up in the situation you are in today."
Following a question Kılıç posed to the participants, "Do you think that information is manipulated on social media?" to which "Yes" was the response from all of them, he said, "What does this show us? When we look at hybrid threats such as hybrid struggles in this community, everyone in this hall thinks: 'The environments where we get the most information, where the most information flows are not reliable.' Well, then, what have we been talking about here for about 15 minutes? What is the reason for such a big impact in an environment where we accept that there is no accurate information, that there is unconfirmed information, that there is manipulation?"
Touching upon the fight against disinformation, Kılıç said that public diplomacy comes into play as a traditional method, but at the same time, perhaps one of the most fundamental elements in this field is the lost desire for accurate communication.
"Who hosted the Jews? Our ancestors did"
Drawing attention to the conflicts between Palestine and Israel, Kılıç concluded his speech by saying:
"What have we been seeing in recent conversations and comments at this point? Certain terms were being used, especially in relation to our President. What is the most common term used? 'He makes antisemitic statements.' You must have heard this on social media, in the press, in some articles and newspapers. Where does antisemitism originate? It is not us, and by us, I mean Islamic civilisation and also the Ottoman Empire of our past. Who hosted the Jews expelled from Spain 500 years ago? Our ancestors did. You know what happened during the Second World War. Who tried to help again when this was all happening? Turkish diplomacy and we, as Türkiye, have struggled a lot. So, how is it that such a characterisation is applied to the person who established the closest relationship with the social groups we call minorities, with the people who are part of and the main element of this country, both during his term as Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and during his term as Prime Minister, namely our President? There must be a problem here. Enters the perception management we have just talked about... Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks harshly, but he speaks with courage. You feel uncomfortable because he told you your mistake to your face. Then, you try to make a perception management operation using hybrid means. See what is right, not what is acceptable."
Chief Advisor to President Kılıç shares post on Strategic Communication Summit
Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç, Chief Advisor to the President, shared a post on the Strategic Communication Summit.
In his post, Kılıç said, "We participated in the International Strategic Communication Summit (STRATCOM). We gave a speech on Effective Diplomacy in Countering Hybrid Threats.
We also had productive consultations at the summit, where we discussed the importance of and access to accurate information.
I would like to thank the Directorate of Communications for organising this important and productive summit."