Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has removed longtime communications director Fahrettin Altun, reassigning him to lead the country’s human rights and equality agency, a move that has fueled speculation pointing to a rift between Altun and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın.
Altun, who has served as the head of the Presidency’s Communications Directorate since its founding in 2018, was widely regarded as Erdoğan’s top media strategist and “propaganda chief,” credited with building the government’s expansive messaging apparatus that shaped public discourse across state-run and pro-government media.
His removal was announced in the Official Gazette early Thursday. He will now serve as president of the Turkish Human Rights and Equality Institution (TİHEK), a largely ceremonial post with no political influence. Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran, a former head of the pro-government SETA think tank and a known Erdoğan loyalist, has been appointed as Altun’s replacement.
Altun issued a statement thanking Erdoğan for entrusting him with the post, praising Duran as a longtime colleague and wishing him success in his new role. “I am very pleased to hand this job over to him,” he said.
The abrupt nature of the reshuffle, however, has prompted speculation in Ankara’s political circles. Critics and insiders suggest the decision may be linked to an alleged fallout between Altun and MİT chief Kalın, formerly Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy adviser and presidential spokesperson.
Journalist Serdar Akinan, who reported on the change before it became public citing anonymous insider sources, claimed in a broadcast that Altun was behind the leak of security footage showing a Kurdish militant attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters in October 2024. According to Akinan, the leak was intended to cast doubt on the intelligence services and damage Kalın’s standing. He added that Kalın documented the incident and brought it to Erdoğan’s attention, prompting the reassignment.
The allegations have not been independently verified, and no official response has been issued by the presidency or MİT. Altun has not publicly addressed the claims. In a previous statement he condemned what he described as “slander campaigns” and “baseless rumors” intended to disrupt unity within the government.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a rights advocate and a deputy from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), commented on the reassignment with satirical criticism of Turkey’s human rights record, saying Altun had been moved to head “an institution that does nothing and serves no purpose.”
Burhanettin Bulut, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), called the end of Altun’s term the close of “a dark period” marked by disinformation, suppression of dissent and the use of public institutions for partisan messaging. “This was a time when opposition journalists were targeted and troll armies were deployed,” he told the BirGün daily.
“Any news that displeased the [presidential] palace was either labeled as ‘false’ or was attempted to be silenced through judicial means. The profession of journalism was portrayed as a criminal activity, investigations were launched against journalists and some were arrested,” Bulut said, commenting on Altun’s legacy.
During Altun’s tenure, the Communications Directorate’s budget grew by a factor of 12 and its staff more than doubled, leading to critics focusing on the institution’s role in coordinating government-aligned media and social media influence campaigns. Altun also came under fire in 2023 for launching a “disinformation reporting app” that critics said encouraged citizens to report dissenting voices during the critical period after earthquakes in February 2023, when the government came under fire for its poor response to the disaster, which took more than 50,000 lives.
Despite the change in leadership, critics argue that the Communications Directorate remains structurally designed to serve the interests of the presidency rather than the public. “The problem is not with individuals, it is with the system itself,” said Bulut.
The appointment of Duran, who co-edited a pro-government book with Altun and is closely associated with the same ideological circles, suggests continuity in Erdoğan’s media strategy, even as the faces change.