Turkey to Fight 'Propaganda and Perception Operations'

A protester holds a sign during a rally in Istanbul against the Turkish government's crackdown on media outlets on October 27, 2015. (AFP)
A protester holds a sign during a rally in Istanbul against the Turkish government's crackdown on media outlets on October 27, 2015. (AFP)
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Turkey to Fight 'Propaganda and Perception Operations'

A protester holds a sign during a rally in Istanbul against the Turkish government's crackdown on media outlets on October 27, 2015. (AFP)
A protester holds a sign during a rally in Istanbul against the Turkish government's crackdown on media outlets on October 27, 2015. (AFP)

Turkey’s Presidency said on Friday it had formed a new department to fight attempts at “manipulation and disinformation” targeting the country.

The unit’s tasks include strategic communications and crisis management during times of natural disaster, emergency and war, as well as identifying “psychological operations, propaganda and perception operations waged against Turkey”, it said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, which has ruled Turkey for 18 years, frequently criticizes foreign media but has come under criticism for its treatment of journalists at home.

The media watchdog International Press Institute said last year more than 120 journalists were being held in Turkey’s jails and the situation had not improved since the lifting of a two-year state of emergency following a failed 2016 coup.

Hundreds of journalists had faced prosecution since the coup, mainly on terrorism-related charges, the IPI said.

Many Turks have also been charged over social media posts insulting Erdogan or his ministers, or for criticism related to Turkey’s military operations in Syria and Iraq and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.



Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Pope Francis spent a peaceful fifth night in hospital and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's fragile health.

Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old pope who was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.

The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".

The pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.

All the pope's public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican's published calendar.