Addressing the closing session of the International Strategic Communication Summit (Stratcom Summit'23) held by our Directorate, Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said: "By means of all conscientious actors globally embracing this process, we will hopefully dismantle the circle of oppression in the world through a comprehension and struggle centred on truth and justice."
Director of Communications Altun conveyed his utmost satisfaction with the successful execution of the third summit, expressed his gratitude to the panellists who participated in the summit from 30 countries and thanked all his colleagues who contributed to the summit's organisation.
Director of Communications Altun stated that for two days during the summit, they discussed and negotiated the means and strategies they would employ to fight against hybrid threats that threaten the whole world.
Noting that nearly all speakers throughout the sessions emphasised the importance of effective cooperation on a global scale in their presentations, Altun reaffirmed, "I have come to understand once more that we, as strategic communicators, must collaborate effectively against hybrid threats targeting individuals, societies, cultures, states and democracies."
Director of Communications Altun noted that everyone acknowledged the extent of the risks and threats facing humanity.
In addition, stating that despite the scale and extent of the threat, it is necessary to develop ways and methods to maintain hope, Director of Communications Altun recalled Hölderlin's quote, "But where the danger lies, also grows the saving power."
Director of Communications Altun said, "Our greatest power, our saving power, is the cooperation of conscientious actors. Global conscience is the main pillar that we rely on. In this regard, I believe that the spirit of solidarity has been the most important outcome of our summit."
Pointing out that they are confident that in their capacity as strategic communicators, they can build a line of defence against hybrid threats such as wars of tutelage, political manipulations, economic elements of pressure, irregular migration, manipulations of international law, information competitions and disinformation wars, Director of Communications Altun said: "We have to establish resilient structures against these challenges and tests. We are therefore exerting effort to establish the Stratcom platform as a global structure.
Stating that everyone is aware of the desperate situation of the global system in the face of global challenges and tests today, Director of Communications Altun noted that this point was clearly stressed in all the speeches and discussions over the last two days, adding that in the past, the global system's approach to global problems and challenges used to be a matter of elites and continued:
"However, today, this has evolved into a global reality that all peoples around the world are experiencing. The dysfunction of the global system and its desperate situation in the face of global issues are now aspects of the everyday lives of people. Because wars, conflicts, and hybrid threats have now escalated to the point where they pose a grave threat to the peoples of the world, and no people or society anywhere in the world can remain indifferent to these global challenges and threats."
Emphasising that the problem of humanity is "the problem of global injustice," Director of Communications Altun said that they all have to fight against this global injustice and added: "The way to combat this issue is to expose the mechanisms that sustain global injustice and to build a global consciousness against them."
Director of Communications Altun said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's mottoes "a fairer world is possible" and "the world is bigger than five" were essentially formulated for the construction of this global consciousness.
Liberation begins with ideas; resistance begins with words," said Director of Communications Altun and went on to say:
"Strategic communicators with a conscience are key in the fight against global injustice and the imperialist mentality behind it. Unfortunately, global communication networks and global media companies have been transformed into structures that exacerbate and institutionalise global injustice. Through disinformation and fake news, they are currently attempting to accomplish the same thing they once did with sophisticated news manipulation."
Director of Communications Altun stated that these global networks and media companies, along with social media companies, consider themselves higher than the states and laws in the countries where they operate and do not hesitate to place their own interests above the public interest.
Director of Communications Altun said, "We believe that when the truth comes, falsehood vanishes. We are obliged to believe this. This is precisely why we believe that we must fight for the truth and defeat the lie industry in this age of hybrid threats."
Announcing their roadmap as awareness-raising, global mobilisation and effective coordination, Director of Communications Altun said: "By means of all conscientious actors globally embracing this process, we will hopefully dismantle the circle of oppression in the world through a comprehension and struggle centred on truth and justice. We will begin by raising awareness on this matter. We will subsequently mobilise on a global scale. And through effective coordination, we will fight against lies, disinformation and hybrid threats."
At the conclusion of his address, Director of Communications Altun announced the STRATCOM 2023 Declaration of Intent and then posed for a souvenir photo with the participants and the Stratcom team.
