Hosted by the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey and the Secretariat of Turkic Council, the Forum was attended by Director of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Prof. Fahrettin Altun, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus H.E. Ersin Tatar, as well as high-level delegations of authorities in charge of media from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary and Turkmenistan.
More than 500 participants, including prominent media representatives, academics, social media influencers and students from the Member and Observer States also participated in the Forum.
The Forum futured video message of President of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who underlined the importance of gaining independence in the sphere of media and communication and called the Turkic World to take initiatives in this regard by sharing experience, joining forces, and seeking ways to make the most effective use of the existing potential.
President Erdoğan also mentioned the misinformation problem in social media channels, pointing out that the lack of control threatens both democracy and social peace.
Addressing the Forum, Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev stated that cooperation within the Turkic Council has entered a new era in the last 2 years and the Organisation has gained tangible achievements in political, trade and economic and other fields, becoming the joint cooperation mechanism, common voice and platform of the Turkic World.
Touching upon the Forum's topic, Baghdad Amreyev stressed that in the globalization era, with the development of internet, the world has become a single information and communication space. He underlined that in these challenging times, the Turkic World acted as a united entity, showing solidarity with their joint action in social media and communication channels, especially during the Karabakh Liberation war.
Secretary General concluded that the Turkic Council by creating common information area, will continue to carry out activities to increase the cooperation between the countries in the field of media and information.
Director of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Prof. Fahrettin Altun underlined the important role that media plays in fostering cooperation in the Turkic World and combatting misinformation. Mr. Altun also emphasized the need to strengthen the sense of unity and solidarity among the Turkic speaking countries and advocated for further deepening practical cooperation to this end.
Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmat Hajiyev mentioned that during the 44-day war, the Member States and Turkic Council did not spare their support to the people of Azerbaijan, particularly in the fight against fake media campaigns. Hikmat Hajiyev also stated that Azerbaijan is determined to rebuild Karabakh and regain its historical prestige as a center of Turkic-Islamic civilization and expressed belief that fraternal Turkic countries would stand by Azerbaijan in this process.
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar emphasized the crucial role of the Media Forum for the unity and solidarity of the Turkic World and elaborated on the experience of Northern Cyprus in the fight with media abuses.
Following the plenary session, Turkic World 30th Anniversary Special Session: “Deep-rooted Past, Strong Future” moderated by the Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council Gismat Gozalov was held where the panellists discussed avenues of cooperation and actions needed to be taken to advance ties in media and information within theTurkic Council.
