Within the scope of the “Make Information True Again” (MITA) project, carried out in cooperation with the International Relations Council of Turkey (UIK), the U.S. Embassy, and the Global Academy, the fifth student workshop titled “Strengthening Democratic Values; Information Verification in Turkish-American Relations” was held at Giresun University between May 16-18, 2024.
Twenty-three undergraduate and graduate students studying in the Department of International Relations at Giresun University participated in the workshop. On the first day of the workshop, participants were briefed on the planned activities, followed by training sessions given by experts on “The Post-Truth Era: Truths and Half-Truths”, “Infodemic and Types of Information Disorders”, and “Fact-Checking: Methodology and Practices”.
On the morning of the second day of the workshop, academics gave seminars titled “Psychological Warfare and Cognitive Warfare in the 21st Century”, “Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News in Foreign Policy and IR in the Post-Truth Era”, and “Turkey-US-NATO Relations”.
In the afternoon session of the workshop, a conference titled “Turkey’s Transatlantic Relations at the Center of Global Transformation” was held, moderated by Prof. Dr. Yalçın Sarıkaya (Giresun University), with the participation of Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın (Kadir Has University), Prof. Dr. Serhat Güvenç (Kadir Has University), Prof. Dr. Özgün Erler Bayır (Istanbul University), and Asst. Prof. Dr. Kaan Ataç (Mersin University).
During the conference, which lasted over two hours, participants were provided with historical and current information specifically on Turkish-American relations, predictions were made regarding the future of the relations, and common misconceptions were addressed using fact-checking methods. Following the Q&A session, the second day of the workshop was completed.
On the third and final day of the workshop, participants played online games supporting the fight against disinformation. Afterwards, activity experts discussed examples of disinformation frequently encountered on social media platforms recently—particularly regarding the Russia-Ukraine War—and conducted group work and practical exercises that enabled participants to fact-check these news items across different platforms.
The three-day workshop concluded with a certificate ceremony.
