BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 18. The information defense architecture of the Turkic world must be strengthened, said Burhanettin Duran, head of the Directorate of Communications of the Turkish Presidential Administration, TurkicWorld reports.
Speaking at the Forum on Combating Disinformation among Turkic States, Duran highlighted the critical role of information warfare, noting that the Second Karabakh War extended far beyond the battlefield.
"During and after the war, numerous disinformation campaigns were launched against Azerbaijan, aiming to distort and downplay its victory. By exposing these falsifications, we provided substantial support to Azerbaijan’s victory in the information space," he said.
He shared a striking example of the power of disinformation: a manipulated video claimed that Azerbaijani soldiers were mistreating an elderly Armenian woman. The footage suggested that one soldier deliberately poured out a glass of water while the woman tried to drink it. In reality, the full video clearly shows the soldier carefully giving her water, completely contradicting the false narrative.
Duran stressed that today, unfortunately, it has become increasingly easy to distort the meaning of visual content. By cutting, editing, and removing frames from their original context, images and videos can be made to convey entirely false messages, creating a warped perception of reality and misleading public opinion.
“Moreover, the use of AI technologies has taken the falsification of reality to an entirely new level. In this environment, modern communication tools bring not only opportunities but also significant threats. Countering these threats is possible only through joint, coordinated strategies. Narratives imposed from outside can be dismantled only together, by creating a shared, consistent, and unified story. In practical terms, this means building stronger institutional forms of cooperation. We must establish joint fact-checking mechanisms, implement early warning systems, and ensure timely information exchange,” he emphasized.
Duran outlined Türkiye’s initiatives, including promoting media literacy, protecting youth from digital threats, strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure, developing algorithmic monitoring tools against AI-driven manipulations, and institutionalizing information exchange between government bodies.
“We have a strong and unequivocal political will to act. I want to stress that we are ready to share the expertise and experience we have developed with brotherly countries and work together closely. We also see a shared willingness among all parties to cooperate. This approach stands as a clear demonstration of our collective stance against any artificially created attempts to sow division and undermine the integrity of the Turkic world.
Data sharing, experience transfer, joint educational mechanisms, and rapid response capacity will be key elements of the Turkic world’s information defense architecture. We must protect our states, unity, and brotherhood from disinformation campaigns through coordinated national policies reinforced by international institutional mechanisms,” the official concluded.
The Forum on Combating Disinformation among Turkic States is underway in Ankara, Türkiye, with participation from representatives of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The goal is to establish an effective communication platform among Turkic nations, enhance cooperation against disinformation, and address media challenges. The event will facilitate experience exchange and joint project implementation and last for two days.
