Answering questions on the agenda on an NTV live broadcast, the Presidency's Director of Communications, Fahrettin Altun, underlined that Israel, which viewed the world through a deceptive filter, approached its own history, the history of the region, and the history of the Palestinians in this way.
Regarding the phone call between President Erdoğan and US President Biden, Director of Communications Altun said, "Mr. Biden called our President. This call took place between 07.30 and 08.30 p.m. In our statement, we essentially summarised the main points made by our President and the substance of the call. The main issue in the current period is the atrocities in Gaza, as well as the genocide and persecution perpetrated by Israel. Our President reiterated his arguments and the truth, which he emphasised in front of the entire world. He emphasised that 19 thousand people died, with women and children accounting for two-thirds of those killed. In this regard, our President has called for a ceasefire to be established as soon as possible in this environment where schools, hospitals, churches, and mosques are being bombed and a massacre is taking place."
Pointing out that President Erdoğan has been conducting a very strong peace diplomacy since October 7, when Israel began its attacks on Gaza, Director of Communications Altun said, "He is taking steps to put an end to the bloodshed and ensure a lasting peace. We have seen one of the extensions of this in a very concrete way here. Again, our President highlighted the importance of establishing an independent, sovereign, geographically integrated Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders, and he emphasised the two-state solution once more."
Director of Communications Altun stated that one of the most important characteristics of President Erdoğan was his sincerity and his ability to convey the truth to his interlocutor in a simple manner, and added: "At this point, he has been representing Türkiye strongly since 2002 with his sincerity. When it comes to the truth he believes in, he does not budge an inch. This benefits Türkiye numerous times over."
Director of Communications Altun stated that Israel committed war crimes and genocide in Gaza and said, "In fact, Israel continues its historical mission using new ways, methods, and tools. The fundamental historical mission of Israel has been occupation and exploitation. Currently, Israel is carrying out this mission in Gaza in front of the entire world, using new ways and methods."
"3% of the 480 thousand people living in Palestine were Jewish in the 1870s"
Director of Communications Altun also drew attention to Israel's disinformation efforts against Palestine and noted the following:
"In terms of disinformation, Israel is continuing its historical mission. When we look at Israel's history, we can clearly see that the politics of occupation and exploitation are at the centre. We can see Israel pursuing a blockade policy and committing grave human rights violations against Palestinians. However, following October 7, Israel added new elements to its historical mission. This process continued with genocide and war crimes, and now there is a new situation. This effort by Israel is creating a dynamic that will have long-term negative consequences for global peace. Historically, Israel's politics of lies, its black propaganda machine, have operated in a similar manner at various times. It has acted in a way that sees the world through a deceptive filter and tells the world lies about its own history, the history of the region, and the history of the Palestinians. They, in a sense, depicted the territory of Palestine as if it were their own. Allow me to refer to these Ottoman Empire records from the 19th century to contextualise the situation historically: In the 1870s, there were 480,000 people living in Palestine; of these, 3% identified as Jewish, 10% identified as Christians, and the remaining were Muslims. Or, to put it another way, 87% of the people living there are Palestinian Muslims."
"We have uncovered approximately 150 of Israel's lies"
As it has done with regard to the course of history, it is apparent that Israel is telling lies concerning current events, Director of Communications Altun said, adding:
In addition to civilians, innocent women, children, the elderly, journalists, medical professionals, and UN workers, Israel has been attempting since October 7 to kill the truth. In display to the world, it has been pursuing a politics of lies. As soon as the massacres of Israel began, we at the Centre for Countering Disinformation set up a round-the-clock unit whose primary mission is to identify Israeli disinformation on social media and traditional media, uncover lies and disclose the truth. This unit created content that has been widely circulated in national and international media. Presumably based on the claim that "Hamas has weapons inventory," Israel struck the Al-Ahli Hospital, massacring innocent bystanders, patients, and medical personnel. Then turned around and said, "Hamas did this," without the slightest trace of shame. Currently, disinformation is spread by state officials wearing uniforms and bearing official titles. Without changing colour, these state officials fabricated documents and videos while lying in front of the cameras. Through labour-intensive and somehow journalistic means, we have shown why the presented videos are fake and what the original video looks like without providing any commentary. By establishing that the photograph shown is from the past and in an independent context, we have provided evidence by uncovering the truth. This time around, Israel's lies have been exposed to international public opinion. We have uncovered approximately 150 of Israel's lies, including those propagated by state-owned channels, state officials, the prime minister, and others. Such shall we continue to do."
Director of Communications Altun noted that the United Nations has been unable to avert Israel's assaults on Gaza, emphasising that the "Palestinian cause" is a global struggle for justice in addition to concerning the Palestinian people.
On Türkiye's public diplomacy strategy, Director of Communications Altun shared the following:
"Our President's foreign policy principles and strategic outlook are crystal clear. 'We will increase the number of our friends and decrease the number of our enemies,' says our President. As Türkiye, we see our bilateral relations with countries in our immediate region and other countries as direct relations between two actors. It is inappropriate, in our opinion, for another regional or international actor to shape and manipulate our bilateral relations. The challenges encountered by Türkiye in its bilateral relations frequently stem from Western interventions, as we have observed. Our President is currently pursuing the strategy of 'Let us shape our relations as direct relations between two countries and communicate directly with one another.' We witness a significant process of normalisation with countries that we have historically strained relations with, as long as this strategic approach remains in place.
"The boycott movement forced Israel-supporting institutions to take a step back"
Upon the question, "Censorship on social media can be as decisive as disinformation in terms of managing public perception. Allegations have surfaced regarding the suspension or removal of pro-Palestinian accounts on social media platforms ever since the onset of the conflict in Gaza. Have you also received complaints in this regard?" Director of Communications Altun responded, "Unfortunately, we have also observed that some social media platforms take a biassed stance. People all over the world have seen it very clearly. We have seen that pro-Palestinian content is relegated to the background by covert mechanisms of censorship, while pro-Israeli approaches are brought to the fore. We observed that this approach elicited a highly intense response, especially in the first 10 days after October 7."
Referring to the impact of social movements and resistances, Director of Communications Altun went on to say:
"The self-driven social resistance movements initiated by peoples and individuals have proven to be quite effective in this respect. What was that? Boycotting. The boycott movement, that is, the reaction of civilians to those institutional actors supporting Israel, has, at the end of the day, made those major institutions take a step back. These also include social media companies. Just as certain clothing companies have withdrawn their overt support for Israel, claiming 'We did not mean that', similarly, social media companies have started to put their sophisticated methods into play again in this sense. Because, since October 7, we have seen that this blackout has begun to be carried out in a very public manner. We have discovered that the blackouts that we have detected using certain algorithms, means, and methods can now also be detected by civilians with the naked eye."
Referring to the need for greater social media literacy, Director of Communications Altun said, "We should provide training on digital media literacy to raise awareness on how to recognise fake news on social media and how to distinguish fake from real. At this point, we are taking a number of steps and producing a variety of publications. We want the citizens of the Republic of Türkiye to consume social media consciously. In this respect, in the face of harmful trends emanating from the world, they should be cognizant of the manoeuvres of those organisations and structures harbouring certain negative, harmful, and malicious intentions regarding the future of society and the state."
Director of Communications Altun emphasised the importance of citizens seeing the source of information in content in news format and said, "It is important for each of our citizens to approach it calmly and see the source of that information when they encounter social media content in news format. Because today, unfortunately, the rule we call 5W1H in the field of journalism has begun to be put on the back burner with the rise of social media. In this regard, I argue that media professionals should engage in activism and defend the news. I think that by explaining the distinction between news and ordinary content to the public in detail, a position can be gained in the name of truth and against disinformation."
"We coordinated over 20 thousand events"
On the question regarding the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Republic, Director of Communications Altun said:
"Today, we started another significant event as part of our 100th anniversary activities. We opened an exhibition titled 'Voice Tunnel of 100 Years' in Ankara. With this exhibition, we commemorated the heroes of the past 100 years through their voices. We find it very important to commemorate the honourable 100 years of our Republic with new ways and methods of communication. This is why we sought to explain this with a different approach and perspective. Among these heroes are figures who served Türkiye as heads of state, from Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to our President, as well as significant politicians, artists, and athletes. Within the framework of the task our President assigned us, we coordinated more than 20,000 events as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of our Republic. These include exhibitions, publications, films, documentaries, panels, and symposiums. October 29 was actually quite an illustrious day among these celebrations. We held a truly high-quality celebration on our Republic Day, which will serve as a reference point in history."
Director of Communications Altun stated that "The Century of Türkiye" meant the building of a great and powerful Türkiye with the nation and the state in unity and Türkiye's theses gaining worldwide resonance, and that they were reaping the fruits of the steps, the framework of which was set by President Erdoğan, taken by considering not the present but the future.
Director of Communications Altun added that the Directorate of Communications, which acts in coordination with public institutions and organisations, would continue its work as a communication bridge between the state and the nation.