Turkish Perceptions of the European Union 2022 | The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)

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The survey was carried out in 27 Turkish provinces between March 2 and 26, 2022 by means of face-to-face interviews, with 2,180 respondents representing Turkey’s adult population.

Turkey-EU relations have been marked by political crises. As a result, Turkey’s EU accession process has more or less been put on the back burner. However, since the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean began to decline in Autumn 2020, several high-level dialogue meetings have taken place between the two sides and relations have started to ease. Nevertheless, establishing a stable relationship and a positive agenda has yet to be achieved.

Turkey’s troll networks | Heinrich Böll Stiftung

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The initial group of Ak-trolls were, for the most part, bot accounts active on Twitter that shared computer-generated posts alongside a hashtag in favour of Erdoğan and his government’s policies. These accounts would create tweets using the hashtag and also interact/retweet with tweets using the same hashtags. A 2016 study published by the cyber security company Norton Symantec shows that among countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Turkey is the country with the most bot accounts on Twitter. However, as bot accounts are easily recognisable and prone to suspension from the platform, they were replaced by more advanced troll networks.

Since that first mass use of Ak-trolls, the trolls have changed their network styles and methods quite a bit. The government-controlled trolls have become the subject of many academic studies, newspaper articles and political discussions. In 2020, Twitter announced that it was suspending 7,340 fake accounts that had shared over 37 million tweets from its platform. In the name of transparency, Twitter shared information regarding the accounts with Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) prior to the announcement of the takedown of these accounts.

Disinformation has become a global security issue: Erdoğan | Daily Sabah

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From being a mere national security issue, disinformation spreading through various outlets, including social media, has now morphed into a global security threat, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Saturday. “Lies, manufactured news, and disinformation spread rapidly through the use of social media,” the president said in a video message on the first day of the …

Disinformation has become a global security issue: Erdoğan | Daily Sabah Read More »

RSF and 10 other organisations warn European Union on Turkey – Reporters without borders (RSF)

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The mission also met with representatives of 17 diplomatic missions in Turkey – a sign of the global concern over press freedom and the rule of law in Turkey – as well as the Delegation of the European Union. Mission members welcome the recent, unvarnished findings of the EU’s progress report on Turkey, which highlights a “serious backsliding” on freedom of expression. But the international community must step up its bilateral and multilateral efforts to bring Turkey back into the club of countries that respects the rule of law. Human rights issues, including press freedom, must not be held hostage to geopolitical developments.

Turkey is ranked 154th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Turkey’s Social Media Army on the March – Middle East Forum

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In June, more than 7,000 Twitter accounts were linked to Turkey’s ruling party. Since then, the army of social-media accounts that cheer Turkey’s invasions and threats against Israel, the UAE, Greece, Armenia and other countries appears to have grown again. Evidence for the number of these accounts shows the systematic harassment of reporters who follow Turkey, dissidents from Turkey and anyone who is critical of the president of Turkey or the recent involvement of Ankara in the war against Armenia.

The accounts have certain commonalities. Most include images from Turkey’s history, including sultans such as Abdul Hamid II or sometimes symbols linked to far-right groups in Turkey such as the Grey Wolves. The accounts almost always include Turkish flags as symbols, similar to right-wing pro-Trump Twitter users who use the American flag in their tweets and profiles on social media.

Turkey’s Maritime Strategy Ambitions: The Blue Homeland Doctrine (Mavi Vatan) – IIMSR

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At the beginning of March 2019, the Turkish navy performed the largest combat exercise since its establishment. The training which was called “The Blue Homeland”, practiced and validated the Turkish doctrine from 2006 and gave a formal “stamp” to its military capabilities, including surface and underwater warfare, land-attack capabilities and landing capabilities.

Turkish naval ambitions came into reality 13 years after they were announced.

In a Turkish navy ceremony held in September 2019, Erdogan and commander of the navy were photographed against the background of the “Blue Homeland” picture and thereby expressed the political validity of the plan.

War Rock & Roll Ad – MoD & State Border Service, Azerbaijan (Video)

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Music: Alkhanli Arrangement: Yaşar Baxış Performance: Nur group, Jeyhun Zeynalov (Jin), Narmin Kerimbeyova Stylist: Sabina Guliyeva Operators: Emin Huseynov, Seyran Mammadov Drone operator: Ibrahim Alizade Operator assistant: Adif Eyvazli Editing: Elmin Lachinov Director: Rovshan Jahangirov