UPDATE - Stratcom Summit condemns Israel’s war crimes in declaration of intent

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM FAHRETTIN ALTUN

By Emre Basaran, Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Strategic Communications (Stratcom) Summit, organized by the Turkish Directorate of Communications, issued a declaration of intent on the conclusion day on Saturday, condemning the Israeli army's massacre in Gaza and describing it as war crimes.

“The occupation and massacre in Gaza carried out by Israel, which commits war crimes, hurts the global conscience, and openly violates international law,” Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said in a closing speech at the end of the two-day Stratcom Summit in Istanbul.

The declaration also commemorated the journalists who were killed by the Israeli army.

In its declaration of intent, the summit also condemned “all Israeli activities targeting media, thereby preventing access to health information, and polluting the truth with false news,” Altun said.

Altun also highlighted that they will collectively fight against disinformation, misinformation, and all forms of information manipulation in the declaration.

“Emphasizing the importance of establishing a strategic communication vision that prioritizes truth, transparency, accountability, and trust cultivation, we affirm our dedication to overhauling national security and defense mechanisms, crafting adaptable and all-encompassing strategies to strengthen our resilience against diverse forms of hybrid threats,” Altun further said.

“We prioritize the development of robust mechanisms with the goal of identifying vulnerabilities, eliminating them, and increasing resilience at every layer against hybrid threats. As strategic communication stakeholders, we commit to developing a defense shield and model practices against hybrid threats,” he added.

“We consider public communication as a fundamental service area and declare that we prioritize ethical values for a human and citizen-focused common strategy. We express our commitment to utilizing the opportunities provided by technology, particularly artificial intelligence, to inform the global public accurately, effectively, and in a timely manner,” he said.

“We also state that we will fight those who use these technological capabilities to distort the truth and generate false and manipulative content,” he further said.

“We value the diversification of dialogue mechanisms and encourage collaborative efforts for the global fight for truth. We commit to contributing to the construction of a more just, peaceful, resilient, and stable international community against wars, conflicts, and threats that affect the world,” he said.