There is no room for complacency in Türkiye’s fight against the PKK, Fahrettin Altun, head of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications said, as Ankara entered a new process to solve the long-standing problem of terrorism.

"We have never wavered our conviction on fighting against the PKK/KCK terrorist organization in a rule of law-compliant manner. The latest attack on TAI has once again shown that there is no room for complacency in countering this terrorist organization," Altun told Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview.

Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics have prompted the first bid in a decade to end Türkiye’s 40-year conflict with the PKK as Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), called for the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan to urge the terrorist group to lay down arms and dissolve. However, a day after the call, a terrorist attack was conducted on a vital aerospace company in the Turkish capital.

Most recently, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Bahçeli's proposal as a "historic window of opportunity" and urged Kurds to accept the extended hand. But he also said no call was made to "the terrorist barons feeding on blood," referring to the PKK itself.

"I want this to be understood that the PKK/KCK is not after the rights of Kurds. They do not represent Kurds. What they want is to impose their terrorist ideology on Kurds, which we will not let happen," Altun continued.

Reiterating that the PKK is a proscribed terrorist organization internationally, Altun said that the organization abuses the concepts of "democracy" and "human rights."

"But in reality, PKK/KCK abducts and recruits children. For instance, the perpetrators of the latest attack on TAI were recruited when they were minors. They also radicalize and use young women as suicide teams. One of the perpetrators was also female in the latest attack," the communications chief highlighted, saying the PKK also does not refrain from targeting civilians. "We lost five citizens as a result of the latest heinous terrorist attack. "

Regional threat

Altun further underlined the threat the PKK poses beyond Türkiye. "It should be underlined that the PKK/KCK and its regional extensions continue to pose one of the most critical threats not only to our territories but also to our adjacent region."

Saying that Iraq recently took new steps against the PKK, he added that Türkiye would "continue to support the Iraqi government in its fight against the PKK/KCK."

Following Erdoğan’s visit in April to Baghdad and Irbil, Iraq decided to label the PKK as a banned organization and take steps in fighting terrorism in coordination with Ankara, which is already carrying out broad counterterrorism operations in the country’s north as well as in Syria.

Terrorism has no place in the future of our region and Türkiye will never allow a terrorist corridor at our doorsteps, Altun said, adding that the PKK has become the proxy of third parties to undermine the region’s stability. Countries including the U.S., Russia and Iran are known to have ties with the PKK.

Türkiye has long declared intentions to create a 30- to 40-kilometer (19- to 24-mile) deep buffer zone along its borders with Syria and Iraq to prevent threats from the PKK and affiliated groups.

Call for dialogue

On steps to normalize with the Bashar Assad regime in Syria to address security threats from terrorist groups along its southern border and to help ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees, Altun said that Erdoğan took a strategic step and stated his readiness to meet with Assad to boost the efforts to solve the multi-fold problems in Syria.

"Considering the fire which is being brought upon our region through aggression, increased cycle of violence and mass movements of populations, this call for dialogue bears more significance," Altun said, referring to the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza and its regional reflections.

 "We preserve our willingness to proceed with the engagement process based on the principles of fighting terrorism with a view to ensuring the territorial integrity of Syria, advancing a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned political process on the basis of UNSCR 2254 and creating conditions for voluntary and safe returns," he added, saying that Türkiye is one of the key actors in the region whose contribution to and potential benefit from a comprehensive solution to the longstanding crisis in Syria is evident. 

 "A prospective engagement should go hand in hand with and contribute to a genuine dialogue between the Syrian sides described in relevant UNSC Resolutions as well," the director said.

Relations between Ankara and Damascus broke down with the outbreak of Syria’s civil war, when Türkiye backed the opposition. Ankara later carried out a series of anti-terror operations into Syria and still maintains forces in the opposition-held northwest, ensuring the safety of civilians and countering terrorism. More recently, Russia, one of the strongest backers of Assad’s regime but which also has close ties with Türkiye, has been pushing for a return to diplomatic relations.

Countering foreign influence

On the other side, being asked on a legislative proposal that aims to counter foreign influence, Altun said that "So-called media outlets and NGOs based in foreign countries affiliated with terrorist organizations such as the PKK/KCK, FETO/PDY, Daesh, al-Qaida and DHKP/C carry out propaganda, disinformation and smear campaigns against our country, as well as financing and recruitment activities for the aforementioned organizations."

He said that Ankara is determined to continue its fight against terrorist networks on every platform.

The bill that expanded the scope of the crime of espionage in the Turkish Penal Code, known to the public as the "agent of influence regulation," has been withdrawn. The group deputy chairmen of political parties are expected to discuss and reconsider the regulation.

It stipulated that those who commit crimes against the security or interests of the state in line with the strategic interests or instructions of a foreign state or organization would be sentenced to prison from three to seven years.

‘Western media, double standards’

Since the war in Gaza started last year, the communications directorate has also engaged in busy efforts to lay bare the attacks of Israel on Palestinian civilians and infrastructure while fighting disinformation and advocating the truth.

"During the ongoing genocide in Gaza, mainstream Western media and certain Western governments have blatantly exhibited and continue to exhibit hypocrisy regarding human rights, universal moral values, and the freedoms of press and expression they have advocated for years," Altun underlined and said that the recent war displayed that these values resonate primarily with privileged Western minorities who align with a Western-centric worldview.

"The censorship, pressure and bullying experienced by numerous Western journalists and academics who have adopted a humane and conscientious stance serve as a clear illustration of this."

He said that by presenting the non-Western world with "exotic content or violent images," Western media both distorts the truth about non-Western societies and institutionalizes the ethnocentrism of the West.

"Despite the media support and disinformation it has disseminated during this process, Israel cannot hide its massacres from the world. In simpler terms, the truth can no longer be hidden," Altun added further.

Western media carried out a "thorough and systematic dehumanization" of Palestinians that has permitted Israel to unleash wanton violence throughout the Gaza Strip, West Bank and beyond, he said.

"On the other hand, the media presenting lies as truth and truth as lies, coupled with the lack of meaningful reaction to the plight of nearly 50,000 victims in Gaza – most notably hundreds of journalists and tens of thousands of women and children killed by Israel – constitutes an overt double standard and complicity in oppression."

Reminding that Oct. 7 was an outcome of long-standing oppression of Palestinians – a fact often ignored by the West – Altun said "Israel's massacres are not a recent phenomenon, nor is the position of Western circles that overlook these massacres or even support them."

"The attitude of the Western media encouraged Israel to tell more lies," he said. "The frenzy of lies has reached such a level that our Directorate's Center for Combating Disinformation has exposed more than 250 lies of Israel," Altun said, adding that these were revealed in detail in the directorate’s book, Palestine Special Disinformation Bulletin.

He gave an example of Israeli President Herzog coming to the Munich Security Conference in February with a book he claimed to be found in a house in Gaza and written by a Hamas leader that advocated genocide against Jews. "Western media also presented these allegations to the world public without questioning. Our Center for Combating Disinformation’s investigation of the book detected that the book was published in 1990 by an Egyptian author, and Palestine was not among the places of publication. The book had nothing to do with the Palestinian issue nor Hamas. More frighteningly, this information was also in the archives of the National Library of Israel."

Similarly, the directorate also revealed with documents that Netanyahu lied five times in his speech at the American Congress.

Altun said Türkiye "will not allow the truth to be covered up with lies. Because if we want to object to this conflicting order, to be deprived of the opportunity to tell our own story, to lose the courage to tell our own story, then we may both endanger our own existence and betray the truth."

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has engaged in busy diplomacy to end the war and has proposed a guarantorship formula. Moreover, it led a Gaza contact group and joined South Africa’s genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) beside humanitarian efforts.

Reform for international system

Speaking on the importance of the G-20, which took place in Brazil this year, Altun said that Türkiye sees the G-20 as one of the most critical forums for addressing global challenges through dialogue.

"As Türkiye, we play an especially important role in global issues such as international trade, migration, climate change as well as regional conflicts. We value the G-20 as the forum that can take rapid action thanks to its dynamic and flexible structure."

He said that Türkiye worked to include political issues like terrorism and irregular migration in the G-20’s agenda and that it sees the crisis of the international system and the need for reform as an integral part of many challenges around the world.

"The urgent need to address the plight of the Palestinians is not being addressed because many international institutions are beholden to the interests of the few," Altun emphasized.

Reminding the Turkish president’s mottos "The world is bigger than five" and "A fairer world is possible," Altun reiterated that the international system must be reformed urgently.

"Therefore, we are happy to see that Brazil made governance issues one of the top agenda items in the Rio gathering," he said. "As always, Türkiye will do its part and share the burden of governing an increasingly unstable international system through effective institutions like the G-20."