Former Diplomat Ronen Sahar: Erdoğan’s Shadow Takes on Global Advocacy Role for Hamas

According to the article written by former diplomat Ronen Sahar and appearing in The Times of Israel:

Turkey is trying a new strategy in its dealings with Israel, differing from past diplomatic crises. While maintaining diplomatic relations and refraining from imposing any concrete sanctions on Israel, a relentless national and international smear campaign is being waged against Israel through both social and traditional media.

At the forefront of this strategy is Communications Director Altun, a key mastermind who not only attends the most clandestine meetings with Erdoğan but also holds a position closest to the Turkish president.

In reality, Professor Altun manages Turkey’s Directorate of Communications, a well-organized propaganda office, with state resources, a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of employees, and an international network. And he does it quite skillfully.

Altun initiated all Turkish campaigns based on the message claiming that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and systematically massacred civilians. According to him, Israel decided to target Hamas objectives in Gaza for reasons that are not immediately apparent.

As of October 7th, there has been no mention from Professor Altun and those around him regarding the terrorist attacks orchestrated by Hamas in Israel, resulting in the horrifying deaths of hundreds of civilians. Altun’s personal account is filled exclusively with criticisms of Israel and defenses of Hamas. His rhetoric resembles that of a Hamas official launching attacks on Israel from a room in Doha rather than that of a Turkish statesman.

In their speeches, Hamas leaders repeatedly declare their aim to obliterate Israel, going as far as discussing the possibility of carrying out the October 7th attacks countless times to eradicate Israel, indiscriminately killing women and children. Despite professing a commitment to the truth, Altun and his team conspicuously sidestep addressing this concerning stance.

One of Erdoğan’s major handicaps in the past has been the antisemitic undertones in his rhetoric. Altun, however, has successfully steered Erdoğan’s discourse away from antisemitic statements, reshaping it into a fully anti-Israel trajectory.

In each message, Altun asserts Türkiye’s desire to mediate between Hamas and Israel, but both his statements and strategy appear heavily biased towards the terrorist organization Hamas.

The most significant asset of the Directorate of Communications under Altun’s leadership is undoubtedly traditional media. In a strategic move, Altun has positioned Israel as a focal point using Türkiye’s largest news network, Anadolu Agency, the country’s primary television network TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) and regionally-tracked channels TRT Arabic and TRT World, all under his control. State media, allegedly claiming objectivity, accused of disseminating disinformation and propaganda in favor of hamas and terrorism.

Leveraging the press freedom facilitated by Israel, reporters associated with Anadolu Agency (AA) and Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) consistently direct attention towards Israeli soldiers defending their homeland. And all of this is distributed to the media in Turkish, English, and Arabic languages.

Altun’s Center for Countering Disinformation  strategically utilizes publications in English, Turkish, and Arabic to conduct psychological operations against Israel on social media. However, there is no evidence of any efforts from the same center under his directorate to counter the false claims Erdoğan makes in defense of Hamas. No statements have been issued regarding Hamas’s endorsing of genocidal actions and civilian massacres, nor has there been any initiative to address Hamas’s accusations against Israel.

It is known that Altun manages a troll network that creates trending topics in Turkish, English, and Arabic on social media.

This also provides Altun with a significant space to engage in black propaganda against Israel. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, it is known that accounts spreading the claim that Israeli civilians killed in the Hamas massacre on October 7th were actually accidentally killed by Israeli soldiers in the conflict have affiliations close to Ankara.

It is impossible to overthrow Erdoğan, but Fahrettin Altun and his team must be stopped. Immediately!