Türkiye's Communications Directorate organizes Turkic States Forum on Combating Disinformation

Representatives from Turkic states participate, speak at panel

Türkiye's Communications Directorate on Thursday organized the "Turkic States Forum on Combating Disinformation" panel in Ankara. During his speech, Javid Musayev, head of Azerbaijan's Communication Policy Sector of the Department for Work with NGOs and Communication, said information security is an integral part of national security. Azerbaijan acknowledged the importance of combating disinformation through its experience during the Second Karabakh War, Musayev added. For her part, Zarina Kalmuratova, chief specialist at Kyrgyzstan's Culture, Information, Youth and Sports Policy Ministry, highlighted the importance of media literacy, saying that a large amount of correct and incorrect information spreads via social media. Fehmi Gurdalli, the general manager of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s state-run news agency, TAK, stated that disinformation and organized fake news have made societies open to provocation, notably during times of crisis. Stressing the importance of media literacy and information security, Gurdalli added that disinformation does not only mean false or fake news, but news blackouts are also a form of disinformation. The panel concluded with a question-and-answer session. Meanwhile, Turkish Communications Director Burhanettin Duran held a meeting with Omer Kocaman, deputy secretary general of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), as part of the event. The meeting addressed efforts to increase institutional solidarity in combating disinformation under OTS, strengthen common communication strategies and establish lasting cooperation mechanisms in the media in the Turkic world, Duran said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.​​​​​​​