The International Strategic Communication Summit (Stratcom Summit '23), organised for the third time this year by the Directorate of Communications, was held in Istanbul on November 24–25.
This year, the Summit was organised under the theme "Global Response to Hybrid Threats: Stability, Security, Solidarity" and President Erdoğan addressed the participants via video message.
The summit, which began with the opening remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan and the Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, was also attended by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations, via video message.
The Summit hosted prominent figures such as Walid Ammar Ellafi, Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs of Libya's Government of National Unity; Ziad Makary, Minister of Information of Lebanon; Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President; and Emeritus Professor Nancy Snow from California State University.
60 national and international experts from the public and private sectors, the media, academia, think tanks and non-governmental organisations from nearly 30 countries participated in the event as speakers.
Nearly 3 thousand local and foreign participants attended the Summit, which consisted of 9 panels, 9 separate talks (Stratcom Talks) and 3 video messages.
Director of communications Fahrettin Altun read the STRATCOM General Secretariat's declaration of intent as the summit came to a close.
The full text of the declaration of intent read by Altun is as follows:
We, who are gathered here on November 24-25, 2023, for the International Strategic Communication Summit with the theme "Global Response to Hybrid Threats: Stability. Security. Solidarity,"
- Stressing that disinformation corrodes democracies and causes disastrous consequences by targeting individual rights and liberties,
- Reiterating that justice and truth are the only paths that lead to true peace,
- Condemning the ongoing occupation and massacre in Gaza by Israel, which hurts the global conscience, blatantly violates international law and commits war crimes,
- Commemorating the cherished memory of the press members who undertook the most important task in helping the international community learn the truth about what is happening in Gaza and who perished as a result of Israeli persecution,
- Recognising that information manipulations aim to undermine the sovereignty of states and the credibility of public institutions, and deny citizens their right to access accurate information,
- Underlining that we will collectively combat disinformation and misinformation, as well as all forms of information manipulation,
- Adopting an integrated approach to both national and international security,
- Communicating the truth to the international public in an efficient manner through employing strategic communication methods,
- Acknowledging the shortcomings of conventional approaches and instruments in confronting hybrid threats and noting the necessity for strategic communication instruments to promote global peace, security, stability, and solidarity,
- Realising the need for global collaboration and knowledge exchange in the domains of countering disinformation, crisis communication, public relations, public diplomacy, and civilian preparedness, as well as raising awareness and enhancing coordination,
- Understanding that the lines between peace, crises, conflict, and war are blurred by hybrid threats,
- Expressing the importance of inter-sectoral expertise, coordination, and experience sharing in combating the threats we face at national, regional, and global levels,
- Underline the importance of institutionalising a strategic communication vision that is based on the principles of truth, transparency, accountability, and trust-building and developing criteria and standards accordingly.
- Indicate that in order to increase our resilience against hybrid threats, we will reform national security and defence mechanisms and develop flexible, multifaceted and holistic combat strategies.
- Prioritise the creation of institutional and strong mechanisms to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities and increase resilience against hybrid threats at all levels.
- Pledge to develop a defence shield and produce exemplary practices to counter hybrid threats as strategic communication stakeholders.
- Consider public communication a fundamental service area and declare that we base our common strategy on moral values that are focused on people and citizens.
- Commit to using the opportunities provided by technology, especially artificial intelligence, to inform the global public accurately, effectively, and in a timely manner and to fight against distorted, fake, and manipulative content.
- Value the diversification of dialogue mechanisms and the promotion of collaborative efforts for the global struggle for truth.
- Pledge to contribute to the building of a more just, peaceful, resilient, and stable international community against wars, conflicts, and threats affecting the world.