Bünyamin Tekin
A journalist who previously ran as a candidate for parliament on the ticket of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is approaching Israeli journalists with financial offers to write about the president and one of his aides’ “global advocacy” for the militant Palestinian group Hamas, possibly for political gain at home and in the Muslim world at large.
According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous and whose claims were later confirmed by a contributor to The Times of Israel news website, Emir Ekşioğlu, a journalist with close ties to the Turkish government who rose to fame at a young age and published articles for well-known news media outlets, has approached various Israeli media outlets and individuals, offering substantial sums for the publication of an article portraying Erdoğan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun as a successful propaganda mastermind whose efforts pose a threat to the Israeli state.
Among other things, our source was offered $10,000 for an article in Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper. He alleges that the article he was offered this sum to publish was later posted by Ronen Sahar, who is listed as a contributor on The Times of Israel news website. Sahar’s resume states that he is a former Israeli diplomat and defense industry consultant.
Sahar’s article for The Times of Israel, titled “Erdoğan’s Shadow Takes on Global Advocacy Role for Hamas,” was later removed.
The full content of the article can be found on other websites.
The article attracted much attention in the Turkish media. They picked up on the idea that a former Israeli diplomat was targeting Altun for his effective propaganda machine, and several pro-government media outlets reported extensively on the article.
“Turkey is trying a new strategy in its dealings with Israel, differing from past diplomatic crises,” the article reads.
“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,” it continued.
“It is impossible to overthrow Erdoğan, but Fahrettin Altun and his team must be stopped. Immediately!” it concludes.
“Turkey and the Communications Directorate’s fight against Israeli disinformation has caused great discomfort in the Israeli media,” wrote state broadcaster TRT in an article on November 4.
Israeli media target senior Erdogan aide Fahrettin Altun as, “a key mastermind who not only attends the most clandestine meetings with Erdoğan” but also shapes Turkish attacks against Israel’s handling of Gaza war with Turkish state media and troll farms https://t.co/QC4EuWKDZE pic.twitter.com/O0oNRc0Nkd
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) November 3, 2023
On November 11, an article was published in the Arabic edition of Al Jazeera that also referred to the article written by Sahar and praised Turkish propaganda efforts against Israel.
Another article written for a Bosnian magazine praised Altun and detailed how Israel was “losing the propaganda war,” relying on Sahar’s piece as evidence.
Sahar confirmed to Turkish Minute that the article he published was written by Emir Ekşioğlu but denied that he knew it was intended to promote the interests of the Turkish government.
“It was not an article that was against Israel’s interests, but when I realized that it came from the Turkish government, I immediately removed the article from publication,” Sahar claimed in an email he wrote in response to our inquiry.
Sahar, who is certain that Ekşioğlu works for the Turkish government, claimed that the Turkish journalist tried to deceive him but was unsuccessful.
However, according to the anonymous source, it was not Sahar who removed the article, but rather The Times of Israel that took it down ”because unusual things happened in the Turkish media, and everyone was talking about this article.”
According to the anonymous source, Altun and Erdoğan engaged in much PR because of this article “because Turks love those who Israel sees as enemies.”
According to the source, “Altun portrayed himself as an enemy of Israel in this article. However, I am not even sure that Israel recognizes him.”
The style of the article is also interesting as it refers to Turkey using the government-approved spelling “Türkiye” — not a very subtle choice for an influence campaign.
Ekşioğlu, who allegedly approached Israeli journalists with the proposal, shared a post on X, previously known as Twitter, by Altun, its last activity as of Nov. 24.
Altun plays a crucial role in shaping and disseminating the government’s messaging under President Erdoğan’s administration. The Presidential Communications Directorate, established in 2018, has been criticized for its efforts to manipulate public perception in favor of Erdoğan and his AKP government while spreading disinformation about the president’s opponents.
Erdoğan has been an increasingly vocal critic of the soaring civilian death toll from Israel’s response to the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attacks, the deadliest in Israel’s history.
Israel launched heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas incursion on Oct. 7, which resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 240 hostages being taken to Gaza.
According to the latest data received from Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli strikes across Gaza have resulted in the death of at least 14,000 people and injured 30,000 more, also leading to the internal displacement of 1.6 million — approximately two-thirds of Gaza’s population.
President Erdoğan previously lauded Hamas as “liberators” fighting for their land and accused Israel of being a “terrorist state.”
While Erdoğan intensifies his pro-Palestinian rhetoric, he continues to enable Turkish exports to Israel.
Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) show that Turkey’s exports to Israel are continuing despite growing anti-Israel rhetoric in response to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza have sparked angry protests and calls for a boycott of Israeli companies and pro-Israel brands in Turkey as well as in other parts of the world.
Turks’ decision to boycott Israel-related products is not expected to hurt the Israeli economy, while Turkey’s sizable exports continue unabated.
The piece published by Sahar acknowledges that Turkey is not targeting Israel with sanctions but has taken a different approach by waging a global propaganda war on Israel, at the risk of sounding apologetic for Turkey’s lack of concrete action against what it says are “war crimes” committed by Israel in Gaza.
Turkish Minute was not able to independently verify whether Sahar was indeed a former diplomat or whether any of his claims were true.
The whole episode could be a ploy by Ekşioğlu to get more press attention, as Sahar has only published two other articles for The Times of Israel, and one of them was written to promote Erdoğan’s continued presidency ahead of the Turkish elections in May.
Regardless of Sahar’s true identity, the fact is that Turkey is using the negative press in Israel to gain political advantage at home and abroad and may be paying for it.
If this is the case, it raises the question of whether the previous negative press criticizing Turkey’s former spy chief and current Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was genuine, as these articles caused his popularity among Turks to skyrocket before he was appointed head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT).
There might even be a market for negative Israeli press for Turkish government figures, as the reward is high, and they have the means to pay for it, as long as there is supply.