Director of Communications Altun: "We face attacks on multiple fronts, from politics to economics and media. Despite these attacks, under the leadership of our President, we continue on our path, our struggle, and our goals, with major breakthroughs in every field from security to foreign policy, transportation to education."
"We are living in a post-truth era, where lies and disinformation have replaced reality and truth," Director Fahrettin Altun said at the 25th Zoom International News Video Contest Award Ceremony, held at the Conference Hall of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, adding, "Türkiye is one of the leading countries most vulnerable to the threats of this era. We face attacks on multiple fronts, from politics to the economy to the media."
Starting his speech by greeting the attendees, Director of Communications Altun commemorated with mercy, gratitude, and respect the sacred martyrs, particularly those of Sarıkamış, who sacrificed their lives for the sake of independence and the future, on the 107th anniversary of the Battle of Sarıkamış.
Director of Communications Altun said that the Turkish News Cameramen Association's Zoom International News Video Contest was held under the auspices of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications and was an additional source of joy for them.
Director of Communications Altun stated that he believes that such an event, in which impactful videos captured by news cameramen with competence, effort, and self-sacrifice are rewarded, will serve to qualify the Turkish media field further, and added:
"I wholeheartedly congratulate the award winners. As you are aware, our paths frequently cross due to journalism activities as well as various professional procedural processes. Our Presidency is in charge of routine processes such as issuing press cards and press traffic cards to members of the media, ensuring that they receive service-stamped passports when they travel abroad, and keeping a record of their professional seniority, as well as carrying out various accreditation procedures. Furthermore, among the services we carry out and our purpose of existence are improving the working conditions of members of the press, facilitating their professional lives, contributing to their professional development, and resolving problems they encounter while performing their profession."
"News cameramen, in a sense, become the eyes of people from afar"
Director of Communications Altun wanted it known that the Presidency's Directorate of Communications supports all media workers, from cameramen to reporters, from photojournalists to editors.
"You are also one of the major actors of the media field, serving a very significant and indispensable function in terms of the media," Director of Communications Altun said, noting that the news camerawork has an important place in the profession of journalism and added, "By witnessing events and developments taking place all around the country and the world and ensuring that these images reach the public, news cameramen, in a sense, become the eyes of people from afar. Furthermore, the fact that these works are carried out using heavy machinery and equipment, and that they are accomplished despite significant physical challenges, is a factor worthy of praise."
"Delivering the news with video also makes the news more understandable and, of course, more objective. For these reasons, news camerawork, which emerged with the development of television broadcasting, has been a very challenging and experience-demanding profession since its inception. While following developments such as wars, natural disasters, and social events, they perform their work under challenging conditions.
For the profession of news cameraman, these circumstances call for specialised know-how and professional competence. Despite the fact that, with the widespread use of technology, communication tools have become available and usable by everyone, and everyone feels like a cameraman, the news cameraman's significance in the media field has not diminished. Because it is vital to know what to look at in order to see correctly, as well as which video to record adopting which technique. This takes professional competence and experience, and it is at this point that the media members are distinguished from the general public."
Director of Communications Altun stated that it is always important to solve current problems and respond to new needs for the profession's development, and they are trying to do their part as a regulatory institution in this regard and that they need professional contributions and suggestions.
Physical assault on İHA reporter Ahmet Demir
Director of Communications Altun stated that it's witnessed with great sadness that press workers who strive to exercise their freedom of information are occasionally subjected to physical or psychological violence, and said, "The most recent example of this was the recent physical assault on our dear brother, a press worker named Ahmet Demir, during a live broadcast. On top of that, the fact that another member of the media industry carried out this grave act added to our grief. When I found out about the incident, I immediately called our brother Ahmet and condemned the act."
Director of Communications Altun once again wished Ahmet Demir a speedy recovery, strongly condemning this heinous event.
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that they considered everyone working in the media sector as their colleagues, from sound technicians to cameramen, editors to photojournalists, announcers to reporters, directors to film editors, transportation personnel to technical staff, as a requirement of humane and professional ethics, and that without any of these people, there would be no news and no qualified media sector.
Director of Communications Altun stated that the cameramen, who serve at the risk of their lives in war and conflict zones conveying the facts they witness through the camera viewfinder to the citizens in their entirety, are also invisible heroes, and added:
"Our cameramen, by bringing the tragedy of immigrants in the Aegean and Mediterranean to screens and the public agenda, enabled a global awareness of the issue of immigrants to be created. I owe a debt of gratitude to every single member of the media who, for example, risked their lives to report and capture Greece's inhumane treatment of immigrants. Because this is a significant accomplishment for humanity. Because it was thanks to these videos that the perpetrators of this atrocity were driven to take even a small step back, knowing that their disgrace and crimes were being thrown in their faces.
It was not about capturing a video but about preventing another crime. When an international violation of human rights is recorded, this should be made known. We learned how Greece sank the immigrant boats in the waters thanks to our reporters, who were able to capture it despite attacks by the Greek security forces. Politicians, in fact, have witnessed this in all its transparency."
Director of Communications Altun stated that the recorded footage brought to light the violations in the European Union, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean, as well as the role of Greece and even Frontex in these violations, and thanked all members of the press who contributed to these processes.
Director of Communications Altun continued as follows:
"We are living in an era where lies and disinformation have replaced reality and truth. This is why, perhaps exaggerating slightly, we refer to this period as the post-truth era. Türkiye is perhaps one of the countries most vulnerable to the threats and dangers posed by this period. Our country faces attacks on multiple fronts, from politics to economics and media. Despite these attacks, under the leadership of our President, we continue on our path, our struggle, and our goals, with major breakthroughs in every field from security to foreign policy, transportation to education. We exert great efforts to achieve our goal, the great and strong Türkiye. In such a time, it is critical that members of the press, as well as politicians, advocate for the truth, and this is one of our most important capitals."
In this regard, Director of Communications Altun stated that cameramen also play critical roles and that it is a sacred duty of cameramen to reveal the truth to the public.
"We must also be concerned about what we have left out"
Director of Communications Altun quoted an Italian director who said, "We have no right to use our camera, this greatest and best means of expression, for vulgarity, for evil" and added, "We should care about what we left out as much as what we frame, which lens we use, what we shoot and what we show."
Director of Communications Altun stated that the 200-year period when the world was governed from a Western-oriented single centre has ended and added:
"Today, we live in a world in which rising powers and very different actors are attempting to have a say in world politics and global politics. We no longer live in a world dominated by unipolar Western hegemony, where American and global hegemony was accepted as the universal human condition. Instead, we now live in a multipolar, multi-layered, and essentially chaotic global environment, and in this environment, our country, as an active regional power, affects its region while also intervening and having a say in international and global crises.
I believe that as members of the media, we should play a role in our country's just cause while also being staunch defenders of that just cause. Our focus should always be on the truth, no matter where we point our camera. I am pleased that you, as the eyes of the truth, fulfil your responsibility of properly displaying this truth, and I am confident that you will continue to do so."
Director of Communications Altun emphasised that the power of an image to influence global public opinion was seen very clearly in both Türkiye's fight against terrorism and the liberation struggle of Karabakh.
Director of Communications Altun stated that the real images taken by cameramen and photojournalists working in operation areas had been the best response to the perceptions that terrorist groups and occupying Armenia attempted to create with distorted and falsified images and added:
"Images of news cameramen and photojournalists who worked heroically in the region helped the world understand the legitimacy of Azerbaijan's victory in Karabakh, as well as how Armenia committed war crimes, targeted civilians, and destroyed world cultural heritage landmarks. I would also like to commemorate with mercy Azerbaijan State News Agency reporter Meherrem İbrahimov and Azerbaijan State Television cameraman Sirac Abişov, who were martyred as a result of the explosion of the mine laid by Armenia and may their souls rest in peace in heaven.
On this occasion, I wish Allah's mercy upon the martyrs of Karabakh victory. Similarly, the news of journalists and images of the cameramen working in the conflict zones in Libya, Syria and Iraq played an important role in accurately conveying the events taking place in the region to the rest of the world. While you are completing this critical task, we, as the Directorate of Communications, are working hard to ensure that you have a healthy, safe and productive working environment. At this point, we are attempting to contribute to raising professional standards and improving the environment within the framework of our President's vision as the relevant public authority."
"We are making a great effort for these projects to be implemented," said Director of Communications Altun, who stated that they support capacity building programs and projects of non-governmental organisations working in the field of media and communication. "We are keeping a close eye on the work of Turkish News Cameramen Association, which stands out among these organisations. We also see and appreciate the positive effects of the projects they put forward in solving problems faced by media professionals, as well as ensuring professional development, and the projects they carry out in society with a social responsibility perspective. I would like to express that we support you and will continue to support you in your future endeavours."
Director of Communications Altun stated that the International News Video Contest had rewarded success, quality, and effort in the field of news cameraman for a quarter-century and congratulated the winners of the News Cameramen Association's 25th Zoom Awards, and wished all media members success in their professional lives and works.
