Turkish President's head of communications lashes back at Reuters

After a comprehensive Reuters report on the Turkish political administration's control over the Turkish media, exercised particularly through routine contacts by the Directorate of Communications with media bosses, editors and correspondents, the head of the Directorate responded, accusing the UK-based news agency of being "an apparatus of perception operations and systematic manipulation" and of "spreading disinformation against Turkey."

Fahrettin Altun began by saying on Twitter, in English:

"Being targeted by the UK-based news agency Reuters is a sign that we are on the right track and a badge of honor."

"This is the sort of news agency that attempts to target the Turkiye Communications Model and the Directorate today. We know perfectly well Reuters’ intentions, the purpose it serves and what it is doing for that purpose," he went on to say, referring to a "Turkish Communications Model" without explaining what the model is.

He continued:

"Turkiye defends the Truth from a system characterized by occupation, military coups, and civil wars, and nurtures terrorist organization -all thanks to your operational reporting— not just in Turkiye but also in various parts of the world."

He concluded with a reminder and a call:

"We remind you once again that this is not the way to engage in true journalism, regardless of the circumstances, and urge you to report the facts and the facts alone."

About the Directorate of Communications

The Directorate of Communications was established with the Presidential Decree No. 14 on 24 July 2018, replacing the now-defunct Press, Publishing and Information General Management.

It is affiliated with the Office of the President of Turkey. Among its duties are creating positive publicity for Turkey and its administration both abroad and domestically.