Panelists discuss strategic communication at Stratcom Summit in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Communications experts began discussing the importance of strategic communication in a changing world at an Istanbul summit that kicked off on Friday.

The first panel of the Stratcom Summit was held with the title, "Stratcom for Resilience: Challenges in an Evolving World."

An international platform addressing global topics in the field of strategic communication, the two-day summit is being held for the second time in Istanbul.

Addressing the panel, Nitzan Chen, director of the Government Press Office in Israel, said Turkish-Israeli bilateral and communication relations gained new momentum with the new Israeli prime minister and affected people-to-people ties as well.

On his agency, Chen said the press office plays a major role "in the journalism and communication arena in Israel."

He said the office "works hand-in-hand with foreign media for reliable and accessible information."

Noting that he worked for over 30 years as a journalist in Israel, Chen also talked about the importance of foreign media in his home country. He said it was "critical not only for us but also other immediate neighbors," as news changes in Israel had to be very prompt in their reporting due to emergency and security situations "sometimes on daily basis."

For his part, Edgar Lorenzo Padron Castillo, a deputy minister of communication planning and strategy in Venezuela, highlighted the importance of "truth" in his speech.

"Political and institutional discourse is important," he said, adding that politics was not just talking about the past but also the future, and making pledges for days ahead.

"It's not just about culture, it's a channel to show people what we want to transmit," he added.

Fellow panelist Nordin Abdullah, founder of the Crisis Management Centre in Malaysia, talked about various policies adopted in Australia to regulate social media companies "that are making certain content."

"So, it's possible to regulate social media companies," he added.

Tomasz Chlon, Poland's former ambassador to Estonia and Slovakia, as well as the former director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow, compared Russia's communication strategy before and after it launched the war in Ukraine. He also discussed the case of Estonia, which branded itself an "IT country."

Dusko Arsovski, North Macedonia's government spokesperson, said his country was also present in the digital world and that it had faced certain difficulties, especially when it changed its name under a 2018 agreement with neighboring Greece.

Participants at the Stratcom Summit 2022 are addressing global topics in the field of strategic communication. Gathered under the theme of "Strategic Communication in the Age of Uncertainty," the platform will feature 52 speakers from more than 24 countries and an audience of over 3,000.