Things that people are used to seeing in Turkey, which is gradually moving away from democracy and the rule of law, as are often seen in one-man-rule Central Asian countries, include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaking for hours on news channels, propaganda headlines in newspapers that are almost entirely under government control and giant posters and banners of him hung in popular places all over the country such as sports stadiums. No minister or bureaucrat starts a speech without the cliche, “As per the instructions of our president.”
However, these are not enough for Erdoğan’s communications office, which frequently organizes panel discussions and conferences to reinforce Erdoğan’s image at home and abroad. The presidency’s director of communications, Fahrettin Altun, whom the opposition likens to Joseph Goebbels, the infamous propaganda minister of the Nazi era, did not miss an opportunity to promote Erdoğan during the Türkiye Nation Branding Forum at İstanbul’s high-end Maslak TIM Show Centre last week, when he said Turkey’s largest and most powerful brand is Erdoğan, adding that Erdoğan’s brand guides them.
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For those familiar with Turkish politics, Altun’s statements are hardly surprising. Altun, who constantly shares flattering messages praising Erdoğan on his Twitter account, is actually known as a “media commissar” in Turkey. On behalf of his boss, he decides what newspapers and TV stations cover and what they do not. He even determines which questions reporters working for pro-government media outlets will ask the president at his rare press conferences.
Read more: Nordic Monitor
