Director of Communications Altun: “We will continue disturbing those who tend to disregard Turkey’s rightful theses”
Director of Communications Prof. Fahrettin Altun commented on the struggle against the attempts and statements targeting Turkey’s independence, international rights, and law during an interview with Demirören News Agency.
Joe Biden’s remarks have recently been a hot topic on the agenda. What do you think it was that made his remarks so important?
The Turkish nation is known for its independence as one of its characteristics. In this respect, looking back over the last hundred years, it was the coup plotters and tutelage circles we had struggled against the most. We have always united against those who have intended to undermine our independence from the War of Independence to July 15.
Joe Biden’s remarks are important for Turkey for the following reason: The ringleader, whose instructions the terrorists wearing uniforms followed during the July 15 treacherous coup attempt, was in the United States of America at the time. It is a shocking development in this critical period that a politician holding the title of Vice President of the USA personally confessed the intent to redesign the Turkish politics.
This confession, on the other hand, also reaffirms the well-known hypocrisy of the American established order. Those who had claimed for years that Russia meddled in the presidential elections now state that they will get involved in the domestic politics of another country.
Such attempts throughout our history have always targeted leaders defending Turkey’s independence and sovereignty. Those who had prioritized the nation’s interests over those of certain circles, from late Adnan Menderes to late Turgut Özal and late Necmettin Erbakan, had always been targeted. We have never, nor will we ever in the future, let them have control over our state, leader, and independence.
Do you think it is Erdoğan’s willpower for independence that lies behind the attacks against him?
Surely. Our President could have had a very easy tenure if he had taken a page from their book for Turkey and turned a blind eye to the violation of our rights, to the terror corridors, and the rehearsals of autonomy. If he had chosen their way, he could have been praised by the Western media that today targets him on every occasion. However, he only sought for his nation’s appreciation and countenance. Naturally, certain circles are disturbed by this fact.
Back to Biden’s remarks, we first need to figure out how the willpower for independence that is being targeted is formed and where the interests of Turkey are. Certain circles both at home and abroad want our country to be governed in a way that lets the sleeping dogs lie. Everybody knows exactly those who ask, “What have we got to do in Syria, Libya, the Mediterranean, or even Cyprus?” There are those people who believe that if Turkey turns into a dependent country again, everything will be all moonlight and roses. However, friendship and partnership is one thing, while dependence is another. If you do not have self-respect, you cannot expect others to respect you.
Our President has again instilled in our nation this self-respect that others have tried to make us forget. It is exactly for this reason that we need to see that the attacks against Erdoğan himself indeed target Turkey and its independence. It is exactly for this reason that Biden considers the toppling of Erdoğan the same as keeping Turkey in line.
Is this the reason why these remarks of Biden are so important?
Right. In my view, it is normal that Biden’s remarks had a harsh reaction to them. Turkey is no longer a country that can be designed in certain closed meetings from another part of the world. They will learn this whether they want it or not.
What disturbed you the most in the US Presidential candidate’s statement?
Let me put it this way: Anyone who is not disturbed by this statement should question his /her love of nation and country. Speaking for myself, I felt sorry for our citizens who support the opposition parties the most. If the presidential candidate of a state that is attempting to establish a quasi-state for the PKK terrorist organization, who martyrs our military officers, our police, and even our children, says that they would support the opposition to make Turkey ineffective and our opposition parties give such a signal to the USA, one can only feel ashamed of this.
Somewhere in his statement, Biden says; “We should overthrow Erdoğan not by a coup, but an electoral process”. How should these words be interpreted?
It should be understood that our nation made history on July 15 under the leadership of our President. We know from its official records that the USA has instigated coups for decades all over the world. Thus, the saying “not a coup but election” refers to that the government in Turkey could be substantially changed only through elections. It is an expression of an obligation, not a choice. This is the product of our President’s determination and the struggle waged with the support of our nation since the Gezi uprising and even the February 7 crisis. It is the victory of the nation who used themselves as a shield in front of tanks on July 15.
What do you say about the reactions to the statement?
The opposite could be unthinkable. Anyone who does not oppose this statement without uttering the words “but, yet” should not call himself/herself an independentist, an anti-imperialist, or a patriot. Everyone, those from urban areas to rural areas, from children to elderly, knows very well what these words mean. We do have neither a piece of land nor a bite of bread to give to the global tutelage focal centres or their collaborators.
And about the reaction of the opposition. I want to ask this because the first reaction of the leaders of the opposition party was directed against President Erdoğan and you.
It is really hard to understand. While the US presidential candidate was attacking Turkey, they firstly rushed to slam our President. I can only be proud of these attacks for myself. Look, there is a dirty implication of cooperation in Biden’s remarks in question. The people are waiting for an explanation about this implication. Why? Because the public believes that there are some presumptions regarding this. Remember that within this period of 7-8 months, Turkish politics was faced with rhetoric implicating coup from the opposition wing. Did we not react to these allusive words that day? We reacted definitely and openly. Today, after we have expressed our reaction, they say that they do not approve Biden’s remarks with buts and yets. However, our nation also knows very well that these are statements made perfunctorily.
In subsequent debates, the opposition always emphasized timing. What would you say about that?
They initiated the timing discussion for the same reason that they showed the reaction to our President instead of Joe Biden. There is no point in dancing around it. Unfortunately, we are faced with a pretty pitiful situation. The people depending on the Republic of Turkey for their living, shield insistently their chests for the US presidential candidates. The nation will never forgive this betrayal.
Does the timing really matter? In other words, does it have an effect that changes the content or political meaning of the statement?
Is something like this possible? If we are to talk about time, it should be taken into account that Joe Biden, who was the only candidate for nomination at the time of the statement, is today the presidential candidate of his party. In other words, Biden’s statements have become particularly more important in the ensuing period. If there is a threat against our independence and national will – and there is – this threat has become more serious. But those who rely on the overseas instead of the nation are disturbed by these facts being mentioned.
So why did we hear about these statements seven months later?
Firstly, the state has not come to know of Biden’s statements today. The phrases he used have been available in open sources for months. In addition, both the Directorate of Communications, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and related institutions and organizations reported these statements on the same day. As for the public, I would like to underline again that this speech is not a secret. Not only the state but also the relevant groups were aware of Biden’s statements.
Why haven’t the state institutions responded to this statement until now?
State institutions are not news agencies. For a media outlet, the value of a statement is measured by its newsworthiness. For the state, the importance of an issue is determined by its power of influence. In fact, as the Directorate of Communications, we were in direct contact with some of the journalists, who were in that meeting room that day. On the day of the statement, we took our notes and consulted with our stakeholders.
In an age where information is so easy to access, it is way out of anybody’s league to hide a statement that has been featured in open sources. In fact, there was no reason why those who talk about timing today should not raise this issue. If there is someone to account for the timing; those are not the state officials, but the addressees of Biden’s message.
Why has the statement become important for the state now?
Firstly, this statement was brought to Turkey’s agenda again. Who did that? The media outlets opposed to us were the first to bring up this statement. And do you know what they said to bring up this issue? They brought up the issue with an attitude that said: “Erdoğan will be ruined when Biden becomes the president”! Can you imagine? I am talking about media actors that are close to the HDP. They brought this statement to the public agenda in order to conduct psychological warfare in their favour. Obviously, domestic and national media organizations did not remain silent about this. And they brought the entire statement to the agenda.
Secondly, when he made that statement in December, Biden was not as important as he is right now, because Biden was a candidate for nomination in the US that day. The statement he made was, of course, remarkable for us. We carried out the necessary work in that direction. You know, Biden was officially announced as the only candidate of Democrats in June.
Another aspect of this process is to draw the red lines in the relationship. In this respect, Turkey’s harsh response to this approach is a warning against Biden, namely, the presidential candidate of the US. You will see that Biden will be more cautious when choosing his team for Turkey. The fact that responses are given today will have more impact than it had in the past.
The opposition considered this statement as an effort by the government to change the agenda. What would you like to say about that?
It would be wrong to expect anything else from an opposition that considers even the earthquakes as an attempt by the government to change the agenda. Frankly, if this statement had come to the fore 7 months ago, they would still make the same arguments. Our President is a leader who speaks with his actions, services, and sacrifices. He neither needs nor resorts to such things. An opposition that is explicitly seen as a collaborator by the US presidential candidate is seeking to mislead the matter rather than making self-criticism. Yet everyone is aware of all of this.
We have a natural agenda, you see; an agenda to serve the country. We pursue this agenda and achieve what has not been achieved before. What did our President announce yesterday? Wait for Friday. He said, “I will announce good news, we are excited”.
Could you give us a clue about this good news to be announced tomorrow?
Let’s wait for tomorrow together. Our President will announce this good news tomorrow. The whole world will hear.
After the statement, you got a lot of reaction from the opposition front. How do you comment on this?
They cannot hide from the nation what they do not want to hear or feel uncomfortable talking about, by attacking us. And they constantly tell me “you should not speak, you’re assigned”. Yes, I was assigned by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who was elected by the votes of our people and appointed by the national will. And he appointed me as the Director of Communications. Would it be okay if I do not talk about the country’s basic issues, do not inform the public about the policies of our government, and try to invalidate the disinformation campaigns that have been attempted? It would not! In fact, we organized a workshop as the Directorate of Communications to improve the rights of valuable members of the media sector. Even against this work, we were faced with the reaction “It is not your place, you are assigned”. What a pity. But we will not go silent; we will continue to speak loudly about the justice and the truth. Turning to the main issue, I ask them one simple question: Why haven’t they been able to come forward for 7 months and say “we are not collaborators of the overseas”? The truth cannot be hidden...
During the interview with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on CNN International last night, your statement was read. How did this progress?
We have a duty to defend the rights of Turkey on every platform. We are in constant contact with the world’s leading organizations. We immediately sent a statement to the channel after we received information about the interview of the Greek prime minister. We have outlined our theses and demanded that they be read during the interview. As a result, Turkey’s statement was read by Christiane Amanpour. Turkey has always been in favour of peace and dialogue, but we have made it clear that we will not allow the rights of either us or the Turkish Cypriots to be violated. The important thing here is not who the statement belongs to; what is important is that it has been shown that no one can criticize Turkey on one of the biggest channels in the world. We will continue to disrupt the plans of those who tend to disregard Turkey’s rightful theses