In the session titled "Türkiye's Communication Model through the Eyes of Executives" at the Symposium on Türkiye's Communication Model on the 6th anniversary of the Directorate of Communications, AA Director General Serdar Karagöz, TRT Director General Mehmet Zahid Sobacı, Press Advertisement Agency General Manager Cavit Erkılınç, Demirören Media TV Group President Murat Yancı and Haber Global Editor-in-Chief Taha Dağlı delivered speeches.
Serdar Karagöz, Director General of Anadolu Agency (AA), stated in his address that, despite the fact that the Presidency's Directorate of Communications has been in operation for six years, it feels like decades have passed because of the robust infrastructure that has been built during that time.
Karagöz remarked that AA was established in 1920 by the most enlightened and well-equipped people of the time and said, ''Today, we are 104 years old. Anadolu Agency has a solid foundation and is constantly renewing itself in accordance with its mission and vision.''
Karagöz stated that life has gotten easier as a result of the advancements in information technologies but that this ease also presents obstacles, saying, "Many things are easier in our lives now: information, healthcare, communication... However, we also experience information pollution and disinformation in the same way."
Karagöz emphasised that the artificial intelligence process is increasingly becoming a part of life, stating, "We consume artificial intelligence like all developed media agencies. We create a wide range of content using artificial intelligence, including voice-overs, news text production, and animations. Our colleagues periodically put together these reports. I tell them that these aren't exciting; what's exciting is producing artificial intelligence rather than consuming it.''
Karagöz emphasised that AA is an initiator and partner of a large project with the self-confidence of its past and added that in this context, AA began collaborating with the T3 Foundation to develop its own artificial intelligence application.
Karagöz stated that in this context, they are constantly uploading AA's 104-year archive as well as new information about current developments, and said, "While many people in Türkiye utilise ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence applications, in the near future, we will have developed an artificial intelligence application in our country that you will not question its impartiality. It is currently in the testing phase. Engineers are closely examining and working on this issue. You can be certain that something perfect will emerge.''
Karagöz stated that they aim for ‘Türkiye not to be a technology market’ and said, ‘'We are reflecting the experience and know-how of Anadolu Agency in this sense to this project with the approach that Türkiye should be the centre of technology and technology exports at the same time.''
Regarding AA's news activities in Gaza, Karagöz stated, "The Directorate of Communications, TRT, Anadolu Agency, and each of our media organisations operating in the private sector in Türkiye worked with great dedication on Gaza."
''Türkiye's Communication Model was intended to counter perception operations''
In his speech, TRT Director General Mehmet Zahid Sobacı said that Türkiye's Communication Model emerged with the establishment of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications within the transition to the Presidential System of Government.
Noting that following World War II, the global, economic, and political system, which was shaped under the leadership of the Western world, was shown as the solution to global problems, Sobacı added that the West's global system did not solve existing problems and instead created new ones.
Sobacı pointed out that the global system and states resort to perception operations through communication tools in order to cover up global crises, normalise humanitarian crises and relegitimize the global system and added:
''This period is characterised by distorted communication. That's why we are hearing more about algorithms, echo chambers, digital monopolies, and information warfare. Despite efforts to cover them up, Türkiye, led by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is genuinely alerting people to the need for reform in the global system as it faces a crisis. The more it does so, the more it is subjected to perception operations and becomes a target country, one against which operations are conducted. Türkiye's Communication Model developed by the Directorate of Communications is precisely a response to this. Türkiye's Communication Model was intended to counter perception operations."
Cavit Erkılınç, General Manager of the Press Advertisement Agency, declared that a struggle for truth is underway against disinformation, manipulation, and perception operations against Türkiye and further added that the Presidency's Directorate of Communications and its executives are routinely targeted for their efforts to thwart fifth-column activities in Türkiye.
Erkılınç said:
''Accurate, fast, transparent, and successful communication activities in times of crisis, such as pandemics, earthquakes, floods, mining accidents, forest fires, the genocide perpetrated by terrorist Israel in Gaza, Azerbaijan's just struggle for Karabakh, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the events in Syria and the north of Iraq, Libya, and the Mediterranean, have all played an important role in protecting our country's image as well as that of friendly countries. The activities of the Centre for Combating Disinformation, the Presidency's Communication Centre, and the Türkiye Brand Office have all significantly contributed to the development of a communication model that reflects Türkiye's essence as it rises in the region.''
''You will have severe issues if you are unable to justify your position''
Murat Yancı, President of Demirören Media TV Group, believes that communication is a state's most effective defence mechanism.
Pointing out that social media has been added to communication channels, Yancı noted that the internet has made it challenging to deliver accurate information owing to the proliferation of sources.
Yancı stated that social media lacks a comprehensive control mechanism and concluded as follows:
"On the internet, you may create as much provocation and disinformation as you want. An area that intelligence agencies and terrorist organisations want to utilise has been created. With the emergence of this area, communication has become much more important. We noticed that social media was used extensively during the Gezi period. We don't need to go far back, we have seen the provocations in Kayseri in the past weeks. If the right information had not been provided in the right way and quickly, we would be talking about very different things. This example alone shows how important communication is. Türkiye's Communication Model is very valuable in this regard.''
Taha Dağlı, Editor-in-Chief of Haber Global, noted that the importance of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications emerged following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, as Türkiye continued its fight against terrorism.
Pointing out that perception operations are frequently carried out by members of terrorist organisations after Operation Olive Branch against terrorist organisations in Syria, Dağlı added:
"They also had the support of Western politics and public opinion. We experienced the process of combatting disinformation shortly after the Presidency's Directorate of Communications was established. We are a state with military, intelligence and diplomatic power. Today, the power of communication, one of the indispensable elements, has been added to this equation. No matter how strong you are in the field, you will have severe issues if you are unable to justify your position.''
