Panels are being held on the second day of the International Strategic Communication Summit (Stratcom Summit).
David Ryan Polgar, a member of TikTok's Content Advisory Council and the founder of All Tech Is Human, delivered a presentation on "Building the Global Responsible Tech Community" during the summit held at the TIM Show Centre.
The "Toward Effective Government Communication" panel followed Polgar's presentation.
Büşra Karaduman Aktuna, Head of the Department of Press and Publications of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, moderated the panel, underlining the significance of government communication for democratisation.
Aktuna stated that communication allows citizens access to information about government policies and added, "It is vital to ensure that the voices of citizens are heard through certain mechanisms. All of them are essential for progress on the path of truth. Türkiye is preparing for a new era. It pertains to the sophisticated communication perspective. The Russia-Ukraine war persists, which has dramatic repercussions. Despite these challenging issues, Türkiye engages in leading diplomacy in problem-solving."
"Turkish Cypriots have managed to survive despite embargos"
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) underlined manipulation and disinformation while discussing the challenges the TRNC faces in the international arena.
Ertuğruloğlu said that Turkish Cypriots have endured this for the past six decades and added:
"The technology has significantly advanced, but the treatment of Turkish Cypriots has not altered. I would like to explain what we are doing about this. Although we are not stateless, we are treated as such. Turkish Cypriots govern themselves. Unfortunately, the western world, led by the United Kingdom, opted to do this; they decided to dissolve the partnership. They acted as if Greek Cypriots were the republic's owners. Even though we were equal partners, we were nevertheless exposed to it. This is miraculous. Turkish Cypriots have managed to survive despite these discriminations, policies, embargos, and restrictions."
Ertuğruloğlu stated that the Turkish Cypriots' resilience stems from their motherland, Türkiye, and continued:
"The entire globe will recognise President Erdoğan's statement at the United Nations, "The world is bigger than five." The United Nations General Assembly brought about the situation in Cyprus. The issue did not begin in 1974, as Greek Cypriots assert. The Greeks view this as an invasion of Türkiye. Members of the United Nations Security Council united and knowingly disseminated misinformation. We are now being punished for a crime that we did not commit. Europe had a similar experience in Bosnia, and we also encountered this issue in Cyprus with the Greeks. Cyprus is a single island with two sovereign governments. We are the state of Turkish Cypriots. On the other side, the Greeks assert they are the Republic of Cyprus. This is blatant manipulation and disinformation."
"The main issue is the inter-state trust"
Murat Karagöz, Director General for Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Türkiye has made significant progress in strategic communication but has faced different challenges since last year.
Pointing out that the world is heading towards a period of rapid transformation, Karagöz said, "As systems differ, uncertainties persist longer. We are witnessing an agenda based on rivalry. We are currently facing challenges related to food security in the world. We deal with a wide range of issues, including energy security and climate change. No country can handle them on its own. This is why cooperation is needed. The main issue is the inter-state trust. Our Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was in Rome. There, he pointed out that there was a vicious circle in this regard. Lack of dialogue breeds distrust. This causes divisions. We need to break this vicious circle."
Touching upon Türkiye's effectiveness in diplomacy, Karagöz spoke on Türkiye's initiatives in the Russia-Ukraine war. Karagöz stated that some circles criticised Türkiye's position and said:
"We have criticised Russia's illegal annexation and occupation of Crimea from the very beginning. We are a NATO member, and we have responsibilities. As required by the Montreux Convention, we blocked warships from transiting the Straits. The same goes for military aircraft. Our strategic communication is highly aligned with that of NATO. It is no secret that President Erdoğan is a very respectable and reliable leader. He established dialogues with Putin and gained success. These achievements are a result of the dialogue. An exchange took place between Russia and Ukraine. Talks were held in Istanbul again. Türkiye nonetheless continues to receive criticism. We are being negatively targeted on social media. This is carried out by the PKK and the Armenian diaspora. It is alleged that these are connected to domestic politics. We are self-sufficient. We are a country that produces grains."
"Kosovo has reached a significant level in media freedom"
Rinor Nuhiu, Advisor to the President of Kosovo, stated that they viewed Stratcom from an educational point of view and stressed the importance of media literacy.
Nuhiu emphasised the speed of change and development in technology and noted that elections were held in many countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, and those elections were exposed to intervention attempts.
Nuhiu mentioned that there have been important developments in Kosovo in the last 20 years and said, "Kosovo has become the country with the second-best performance in the World Justice Project. There are Reporters Without Borders. Kosovo has also reached a significant level in media freedom. In a short period of time, we have put in a lot of effort to ensure resilience. These achievements were largely overshadowed. You are aware of the situation in Ukraine. This has repercussions on our continent as well. Serbia is the only country on our continent that did not condemn Russia and did not impose sanctions following the start of the war."