Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun remarked that their goal is to make Türkiye one of the world's active powers in the field of communication and information by utilising the capabilities and opportunities of public diplomacy, and added: "At this point, we aspire to be a regional and international information hub."
In his address at the 13th Ambassadors Conference held in a hotel, the Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun stated that they have exemplary cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to better convey Türkiye's arguments on the international arena and combat disinformation against Türkiye.
Underlining that the transformation of the international system has also given rise to a communication-based struggle, Director of Communications Altun continued:
"We all observe and experience this in all of our activities. Now, information warfare develops rapidly and has become a component of conventional wars. Information warfare is progressively transforming into disinformation warfare, and international conflicts and battles persist alongside disinformation warfare. The war between Russia and Ukraine demonstrated the extent to which an intense disinformation campaign can dominate the international stage. Sadly, disinformation campaigns have become a part of international relations as they have become increasingly structured and institutionalised."
"As of now, Türkiye occupies an order-building role"
Director of Communications Altun pointed out that in this process, social media-based operations have become a means of intervening in the domestic policies of nations and added, "In this sense, Türkiye is the country most impacted by this process and subjected to systematic disinformation campaigns. In this process, which witnessed a communication-based transformation and the emergence of communication's dominance in the international arena, countries' brand value and the growing centrality of public diplomacy in economic and political interactions have also been significant factors."
Stating that the international public's interest in regional and global crises like the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and food crisis has raised the demand for information, Director of Communications Altun said:
"Türkiye must strive for its existence, demonstrate that it is making every effort to grow, and, on the other hand, effectively communicate its arguments to both the domestic and global publics in a time when all of this communication, information, and disinformation have an impact on the international arena. Because, as of now, Türkiye truly occupies an order-building role. It is a regional and global power whose influence is expanding. Thus, in this new era, Türkiye is putting up unprecedented diplomatic, political, humanitarian, military, and economic efforts to offer solutions to global and regional crises.
Under the leadership of our President, all of this has turned our country into an effective and respected regional stabilising power. Our most significant effort today is transitioning from this regional power to a global one. The main actors in this process are you, ambassadors. As our ambassadors, you assist this process by making strides in Türkiye's struggle to be a great and powerful country, in the process of Türkiye becoming a global power, and by demonstrating actual field accomplishments."
Emphasising that Türkiye has thus developed into a country that takes the initiative on international issues, Director of Communications Altun said, "Today, our country is making diplomatic gains both at the negotiating table and on the field. These gains show themselves in a spectrum ranging from regional conflicts to global problems. Undoubtedly, behind this increasing importance of Türkiye, there has been a great leap forward in the last 20 years. As our President put Türkiye on a new path of development and growth with a unique understanding of modernisation, Türkiye became stronger daily, and this increasing importance of Türkiye has transformed it into a regional and global actor."
"We want Türkiye to be the source of information"
Emphasising that the Presidency's Directorate of Communications has launched an institutionalisation process by employing the public diplomacy tool to clarify Türkiye's arguments to the international public, Director of Communications Altun continued:
"First of all, we consider communication to be a national issue rather than a technical one. We see it as a political issue. With the help of "Türkiye's Communication Model," we aim to maximise Türkiye's interests. Türkiye's Communication Model is an effective, well-known model. We aim to effectively communicate Türkiye's arguments and expectations to the international public. We are talking about a proactive and constructive model, not a defensive one. In this model, we make a point of never being disinformative or misleading. Regardless, we disagree with the approach of countering disinformation with disinformation. We hold that truth is fundamental and that a communication struggle based on the truth will ultimately prevail. Because our President's fight for truth in politics has demonstrated that this is achievable in the long term, despite all the difficulties. In accordance with the President's proposed foreign policy vision, we are adopting the approach of transparent politics and genuine communication."
The Presidency's Director of Communications Altun pointed out that Türkiye is actively combating information and disinformation operations in the international arena related to the crises in its region.
Highlighting their desire for Türkiye to serve as a source of information, Director of Communications Altun remarked that their goal is to make Türkiye one of the world's active powers in the fields of communication and information by utilising the capabilities and opportunities of public diplomacy.
Director of Communications Altun said, "At this point, we aspire to be a regional and international information hub," and added, "We have undertaken numerous initiatives in this regard, and we have seen the advantages of informing the international media on critical issues straight from Türkiye, Istanbul and Ankara. Along with the Karabakh War, the struggle we faced in the Aegean is an example of it."
"We are facing a disinformation mechanism"
Expressing that they are also working hard to strengthen Türkiye's information and communication infrastructure, Director of Communications Altun stated:
"Therefore, we believe it is crucial to improve technological infrastructure and develop new opportunities and capabilities. It is crucial to promptly deliver accurate information on Türkiye and to inform the addressee at this point. We aim to achieve this. Of course, we are facing a big lie machine, a disinformation mechanism, and there is a strong political power behind it. First, this political power aims to restore Türkiye's previous dependency order. While Türkiye was a more predictable market under the previous dependency structure, it now acts independently and on its own behalf. This vision, led by our President, essentially assigns us extremely serious responsibilities in the field of communication.
The first of these responsibilities is to explain Türkiye directly from Türkiye and promptly update its interlocutors. Of course, we are also engaged in a worldwide battle against disinformation and hate speech. In the context of preventing external interventions in social media, this is something that should be emphasised very explicitly that we have to engage in more demanding activities than we have envisaged because through the operations carried out over social media, attempts are made to destabilise the domestic politics of many countries and to target their democracy. At this point, I would like to unequivocally state that we are currently going through a similar process."
Expressing that they will also have benefits in the field of communication as long as Turkish diplomacy advances, Director of Communications Altun ended his words as follows: "In this regard, we will exert every effort for Turkish diplomacy to advance. We believe that Türkiye will continue to play a leading and decisive role in the resolution of the global energy crisis, food crisis, international conflict and humanitarian crisis in the upcoming period. Accordingly, we have formulated a new campaign called 'Türkiye Leads'. With the Türkiye Leads campaign, we will try to announce to the world Türkiye's efforts in all crisis areas for world peace and stability, under the leadership of our President."
