Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, "I would like to reiterate that as the Republic of Türkiye, we are always willing to cooperate with all Turkic states in the field of communications. Let us all take advantage of the possibilities that this new era has to bring. Let us work together in the field of media and information to combat the new, hybrid challenges that we face."
Türkiye recently attended the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States’ (Turkic Council) Third Meeting of Ministers and High Officials in charge of Information and Media as held in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, along with officials of member states Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and Hungary as observer.
The meeting was hosted by Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, and moderated by Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev, and also attended by Kyrgyz Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Kairat Imanaliev, Uzbekistan’s Information and Mass Communications Agency Director Asadjon Khodjaev, Kazakh Vice Minister of Information and Social Development Askhat Oralov, and Hungarian State Secretary for Security Policy Peter Sztaray.
At the meeting, the delegation of Türkiye was chaired by Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, and included Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Azerbaijan Erkan Özoral and Anadolu Agency (AA) Chairman and Director General Serdar Karagöz.
Speaking at the meeting, Altun told how 12 years ago the Turkic Council’s first summit was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and how the Council has since become institutionalised as a vital platform in the international arena.
Underlining that the last 12 extremely tumultuous years have seen the world undergo rapid and comprehensive transition and transformation, Altun stated that Türkiye’s kin have faced existential threats in all corners of the Turkic world.
Altun stressed that they have witnessed a systematic campaign to erase all traces of Turkishness from Syria, Iraq, and the Eastern Mediterranean, and added:
"These attacks have targeted not only our physical presence but also our reputation and credibility. Despite the fact that these attempts to discredit have come from outside, they have sadly continued with the help of internal collaborators. During this era called the 'post-truth', these attacks have been accompanied by perception management operations."
"We must safeguard and help each other"
Altun pointed to the importance of collaboration against next-generation threats, adding, "We must safeguard and help each other, and enhance our resiliency. We have to adapt both our threat perceptions and our sense of collaboration and solidarity to the current conditions. This is a requirement of our fellowship. The Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation, known as FETO, is the greatest-ever threat to Turkishness. This organisation has afflicted our state like a cancer for the past 40 years, penetrating even the arteries of our most critical institutions."
Emphasising how FETO’s plot against Türkiye took tangible form during the treacherous coup attempt of July 15, 2016, Altun explained:
"This attempt, which was virtually an invasion attempt, was prevented thanks to the strong leadership of our President and the foresight of our people. Nonetheless, getting this virus out of our body took years despite the iron will of our nation. The virus in question had unfortunately spread into other parts of the Turkic world and manifested itself in various forms.
“We do not wish for any of our kin to have to face the challenges our citizens suffered. Thus, we clearly and explicitly state that we should watch out for disinformation campaigns and attempts by the [FETO] organisation to infiltrate Turkic states under the guise of foreign services. We need to strengthen our citizens' resistance to such practices by banding together."
"We are always willing to cooperate with all Turkic states"
Director of Communications Altun stressed the importance of communicating the Turkic world's historical, cultural, and humane riches to the globe and taking steps to support joint efforts in domestic tourism, education, and art.
Calling disinformation one of the Turkic world's most pressing issues, Altun said the most effective tool to fight this is boosting the capacity of media organisations and press workers, as well as spreading media literacy to all walks of life.
Altun also decried “digital fascism,” warning how a group of global companies is attempting to monopolise the truth by controlling global data traffic.
He underlined that while lecturing the world on freedom of thought, these corporations also censor views they see as contrary to their interests. Altun added:
"The Republic of Türkiye has begun to take the necessary steps to fight this digital fascism. Within this framework, we have made it mandatory for social media companies to open representative offices in Türkiye. To date, all of the corporations involved have begun to follow this rule in order to avoid being sanctioned. Our initiatives also serve as a model for other locations around the world. By banding together, our states must contain these global corporations, which are pushing their secret agendas on humanity under the guise of neutrality.
“On this occasion, on behalf of the Republic of Türkiye, I would like to reiterate that we are always willing to cooperate with all Turkic states in the field of communications. Let us all take advantage of the possibilities that this new era has to bring. Let us work together in the field of media and information to combat the new, hybrid challenges we face. Doubtless, the solidarity and cooperation demonstrated by Türkiye and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh war enabled our righteous cause to be heard by the whole world. It showed that when we unite our efforts, there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome."
Telling how a Joint Media Platform between Türkiye and Azerbaijan was established, Altun said that they would like to expand this structure with members of the Turkic Council and make it more effective.
Altun also stressed the importance they place on safeguarding the rights and remedies of the Turkish Cypriots.
Following the meeting, Altun and other participants paid a visit to the gravesite of Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan's late President, as well as to the Alley of Martyrs, where Azerbaijan’s martyrs of Jan. 20, 1990 were laid to rest, and to the Baku Turkish Martyrs' Memorial.
