Director of Communications Altun said, "TRT's digital platform will compete as a very serious actor in the global arena."
Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun spoke at the debut of TRT's international digital platform "Tabii", held at the Beykoz Kundura Factory.
Director of Communications Altun said he was very pleased, excited and proud to be at such an important event in his speech.
Director of Communications Altun stated that they are experiencing a day and a moment that they have been preparing for a long time and added, "Thankfully, we are experiencing this moment together with you, friends. We are experiencing this moment together. Praise be to Allah. Obviously, TRT is an institution that has always placed its stamp on innovation and has been a pioneer since its inception many years ago. It is an institution that has made significant inroads into the international arena, both nationally and with the capacity that Türkiye has recently developed and has completed very successful projects. TRT is essentially a public broadcaster, but it is a public broadcaster capable of competing with the private sector on a global scale. In this regard, it is an institution that can withstand the harsh competitive environment of the private sector while protecting the public interest and undertaking very successful and pioneering works."
Director of Communications Altun stated that today they launched a new project realised by this institution, the international digital platform of TRT, and went on to say:
"We wish this important event the best of luck." This is a very, very important project for us—a very vital project. First and foremost, it is a project that our President closely follows, monitors at every stage, and makes every effort to facilitate its completion. Therefore, I would like to thank our President at the beginning of my remarks for his invaluable contributions that ultimately led to the birth of this valuable project. May he live and remain healthy.
This project is a source of pride and honour for the great and powerful Türkiye. Let me state it clearly. When TRT's new management took over, we engaged in serious negotiations. We asked, 'What is going to be the real branding project of this new management?' We negotiated extensively. As a result, we determined that such an international digital platform would be appropriate for TRT's pioneering role, as well as for TRT to implement this project, which has become a critical need in Türkiye."
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that following this process, the TRT Board of Directors adopted this mission and provided all of the necessary amenities for its implementation, and he thanked TRT Director General Zahid Sobacı in particular, Deputy Director General Ziyad Varol, and TRT employees.
"A magnificent project has been developed with this robust technological and IT infrastructure."
Director of Communications Altun stated that while President Erdoğan has supported this project, he has always wanted them to develop a project that reflects Türkiye's international, regional, and global power.
Director of Communications Altun noted that during the creation of this digital platform, its technological infrastructure was developed first, adding, "This took a great deal of work. With this robust technological and IT infrastructure, a magnificent project has been developed. If such a project were not accomplished through the development of digital and technological infrastructure using domestic and national resources, it would not be truly considered our country's project."
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that this project belongs to Türkiye and the people, as its technological infrastructure was developed using domestic and national resources, and added, "Of course, we have seen only a small portion of it. Exceptionally qualified content has been produced. The content on the digital platform garnered attention long before its release. It was also possible to choose another path. TRT is a channel that already offers attractive productions and a digital platform could have been created that would feature these attractive productions. However, they have moved beyond that. They have created original and robust content solely for this platform."
"We will continue to contribute to the building of a great and powerful Türkiye together."
Director of Communications Altun said that they began to reap the fruits of this process, which started a year ago, and they will continue to do so.
Director of Communications Altun pointed out that the project had originally been planned to be announced to the public in February; however, due to the "disaster of the century" earthquakes that occurred on February 6, they needed to work day and night under the leadership of the President to heal the wounds of the disaster that affected 14 million people, 11 provinces, and over 60 districts.
Director of Communications Altun underlined that they were not only saying but acting as well, and added:
"To realise the promise of our President, we are all working hard in our own fields. On the other hand, as evidenced by this effort, we continue to contribute to the building of a great and powerful Türkiye in our respective fields. TRT's digital platform will enter the global arena as a significant actor. The TRT digital platform will contribute to the continued growth of the Turkish television series and film industry by producing more authentic, high-quality content with a social and cultural basis. It will fully benefit both the sector and our nation. On the other hand, this digital platform will strengthen the Türkiye brand."
"The realisation of this project today is thanks to the presence of a great and powerful Türkiye"
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that the realisation of this project today is thanks to the presence of a great and powerful Türkiye, adding, "The architect of this great and powerful Türkiye is our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. I would like to reiterate that we owe him the greatest gratitude.
Our President has announced two mobilisations of significance to us. The first is digitalisation mobilisation, and the second is communication mobilisation. Our work here is a direct continuation of those two mobilisations. Both of these mobilisations serve as guidelines for us. Of course, in the meantime, we have made a serious effort to strengthen our technological infrastructure within the framework of this mobilisation. When we look at it, we all see that Türkiye has experienced an important technological breakthrough in the field of media, communication, and digitalisation, not only as of today but in the past 20 years, and has significantly increased its capacity."
"The Century of Türkiye will be an era when we will strengthen our cultural infrastructure"
Director of Communications Altun noted that they had one more assignment and said:
"The Century of Türkiye will be an era when we will strengthen our cultural infrastructure at this point. There will be very serious efforts that we will put forward within this framework. Because the Pro-Western cultural hegemony, as of today, is standardizing the world and turning it into a truly unpleasant place. Our efforts are to colourise this world in a real sense by producing original, multidimensional, and powerful content. It is to make this world liveable in a real sense. The world is currently facing the hegemony of Western global content creators and cartels. The injustice that manifests itself in the field of media, communication, and popular culture is an injustice that we are fighting and will continue to fight."
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that first of all, limited representation and an unjust distribution were mentioned within the pro-Western hegemony and said, "We think that the distribution should be fair, and representation should be done in a parallel way with pluralisation. We think that all segments of society in the international arena should be represented. We think the oppressed, victims, and lower classes should also be represented. That is why we strive to be the voice of the voiceless. With this platform, we are going out to the international arena with a claim; we are putting forward an alternative."
"I think this project suits the Century of Türkiye very well"
Director of Communications Altun underlined that this alternative was, first of all, a challenge to the Western colonial order.
Noting that the TRT digital platform had begun broadcasting not only in one but five languages, Director of Communications Altun said that he believed that the platform would continue its path with new languages.
Emphasising that they were now in a position to produce, not just consume, in the global arena and that they had demonstrated this in a concrete way in the cultural field, Director of Communications Altun concluded:
"We are strong because we are one and together. Unfortunately, over the years, especially since the era of Westernisation, there have always been those who have tried to disrupt this social unity in order to divide and weaken our country. Still, we are eliminating this externally managed effort in our own field. We are doing everything we can to eliminate and appeal to 85 million people with stories that unite us. We appeal to the whole world with stories that unite us. I think this project suits the centenary of our Republic, the Century of Türkiye very well."
Following his speech, Director of Communications Altun expressed that he liked the name and logo of TRT's international digital platform "Tabii" and subscribed to the platform.
Director General of TRT Zahid Sobacı also said the platform would be free initially.
Director of Communications Altun posed for a souvenir photo with the members of the TRT Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board and Director General Serdar Karagöz of Anadolu Agency, TV series actors, and artists who participated in the event at the end of the programme.