Fighting against war, terrorist propaganda among Türkiye's priorities, says top official

Fighting against war and terrorist propaganda is among Türkiye's top priorities, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Thursday.

"As Türkiye, fighting against war and terrorist propaganda is among our priorities, as well as fortifying our national security and preventing humanitarian tragedies in different geographies," Altun told a forum at Anadolu Agency's headquarters in the capital Ankara.

Titled War Journalism and Reporting in Crisis Zones, the forum is being organized with the support of the Turkish Presidency's Communications Directorate.

A total of 15 international journalists -- who earlier received war correspondent training at the agency -- from Georgia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Nigeria, Algeria, Chad, Kenya, Sarajevo, and Kyrgyzstan participated at the forum.

The forum aims to increase the interest of international media members in Türkiye, and to contribute to the promotion of the country by providing interaction between foreign and Turkish war correspondents.

"In this period, reporting wars, crises, tensions and conflicts between global and regional actors in the most accurate way is one of the most challenging journalism activities," Altun said.

He added periods of war and crisis are the periods "most open" to manipulation, perception operations and disinformation.

"Of course, it has to be a basic principle for a journalist not to be an instrument of war propaganda and not to serve the policies of persecution. Because conscientious journalists can contribute to the end of wars, conflicts and crises, and thus they actually serve peace," Altun said.

The director added it should not be ignored that war journalism can also enable a global awareness of humanitarian issues in different regions, saying: "For example, I consider it within the scope of peace journalism to bring to the attention of the world public the tragedy experienced by migrants who were subjected to the inhuman treatment of Greece."

As Türkiye is exposed to terrorist propaganda, the country makes an intense effort to counter the black propaganda on a national and international scale, Altun added.

He also thanked Anadolu Agency for producing news and images on Türkiye's fight against terrorism, the war between Azerbaijan-Armenia and the Russia-Ukraine war.

This caught the attention of people across the world at large, he said.