The Zero Waste Movement started on September 27, 2017, under the auspices of First Lady Erdoğan. The project, which was carried out under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and turned into a global environmental movement, saved money in many areas from the environment to energy, from greenhouse gas emissions to storage space, and invested in both the economy and the future. Türkiye aims to increase the recovery rate to 60 percent in 2035. The project turned into a global movement with March 30 International Zero Waste Day, which was declared by the UN on December 14, 2022, under the leadership of Türkiye and the support of 105 countries.

ZERO WASTE FORUM
Zero Waste Foundation President Samed Ağırbaş emphasized that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a special vision for Istanbul and said, “Erdoğan wants to make this city a center of the United Nations (UN). Under the leadership of Emine Erdoğan, we want to follow this vision in the context of zero waste and environment. In this context, we aim for more than 10 international organizations to open their offices in Istanbul, where they will carry out zero waste activities, in the next 5 years.” Ağırbaş said that the Zero Waste Movement has now crossed continents and that they see the positive contribution of this movement to the world in almost every country. “We are organizing the Zero Waste Forum at Atatürk Airport on 5-7 June. More than 150 countries will participate there and we expect more than 5 thousand participants. It is the world’s largest civil environment and zero waste event.” he said. Explaining that as of today, more than 200 mayors from around the world will be at the Zero Waste Forum, Ağırbaş said, “We will talk about zero waste practices with local government and private sector representatives there.” “As a foundation, under the leadership of Emine Erdoğan, we have offered a platform to all environmental organizations in the world where they can discuss freely and express their ideas freely,” he said.

Following Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek’s statement, “No file is left unattended. No suspicious case will be left to be forgotten. Murders that remain dark will be investigated in unsolved cases.” This provided new hope for the family of Eser Binen (36), who was killed in an armed attack with three other people in the cemetery in Adana in 2017, and whose perpetrators have not been found to date. Zeliha Binen (67), a mother of two children, who said that she has been crying for her son for 9 years, said, “I was very happy when my daughter said that the unsolved perpetrators’ files would be reopened. Our file should also be reopened. My son’s blood should not be left untouched. My work was working in Saudi Arabia, we were going to engage my child, but they took it away from us. We do not know who killed my child and why,” she shed tears. Sister Yasemin Taş (49) said, “Just as the murder of Gülistan Doku was brought to light, my brother’s murder and the deaths of other people will also be brought to light. We have great confidence in our minister of justice.”

THEY WERE KILLED IN THE CEMETERY

The incident took place on January 26, 2017 in the Alihocalı District cemetery of Yüreğir District. The cemetery officer called the police when he saw a person lying motionless next to his car with plate number 01 ERG 36. The teams came to the car that crashed into a pole in the cemetery and came across three male bodies, one inside the vehicle, one next to the door, and one 10 meters away. It was determined that the people who died in the attack with Kalashnikovs and pistols were body and paint master Eser Binen, auto body master Ufuk Altun and Refik Bingül. 25 Kalashnikovs and nearly 100 pistol bullets were found at the scene. No positive results were obtained in the efforts made by the police forces so far and the case was shelved as the perpetrator remains unsolved.

MY BABY WEARS A SHROUD INSTEAD OF A GROOM’S DRESS

Following the clarification of the Gülistan Doku murder after 6 years, the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek stated that they have maximized the institutional capacity to clarify the unsolved files and said, “No file is abandoned. No suspicious case will be left to be forgotten. Murders that remain dark will be investigated in the unsolved files.” This gave hope to Eser Binen’s family. Zeliha Binen, who shed tears while looking at her son’s photos, said, “Let the murder that has been left in the dark for 9 years be brought to light. I was going to my son’s grave every day. I can no longer move because of my illness. I am bedridden. I look at my son’s photo and fall asleep crying. In the morning, I cannot even look at the photo because of my shame because my son’s blood is on the ground. I now ask the Minister to find the murderers of my son. My son was very clean. He came from Saudi Arabia on leave. We were going to do his engagement ceremony, but we were going to hold him off.” “They took him. I was going to marry him. My son wore a shroud instead of a groom’s suit. I can’t understand how a murder involving 25 Kalashnikovs and nearly a hundred gun cases is still unsolved. We don’t know why my son was killed. Let’s look at our file again.”

CHP Konya Provincial Organization recently dismissed the district youth branch presidents and their management without giving a reason. Thereupon, young CHP members who went to the provincial building and chanted “Management resign” slogans booed the administration. The young people also left a gravestone in front of the building. Reacting to the decision, CHP Konya Deputy Barış Bektaş said: “Dismissals are clearly a usurpation of will. It is incompatible with democracy, organizational culture and political morality. At a time when our party needs the feelings of unity and solidarity more than ever, I see that common sense has been replaced by personal ambitions. It has now reached an undeniable point that this ambition harms not only individuals but also our common struggle.”

CHP 36th Term Party Assembly member and former District Chairman Bülent Ecevit Tatlıdil said, “Whoever suggested to our Headquarters and took part in this decision, their aim is not to grow and unify the party, but to establish a structure in which they can play. Even the district presidents are not aware of the decision. Youth branches can only go through elections. Those who see themselves in the giant mirror, remember that those seats are not permanent for you.”

Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş announced important regulations in Türkiye’s social policies in the A Haber live broadcast. Stating that the maternity leave awaited by millions has been increased to 24 weeks for mothers, Göktaş announced that mothers whose leave continues as of April 1 will also benefit from this right. Emphasizing that paternity leave has been increased from 5 days to 10 days, Göktaş heralded that maternity benefits will no longer be a one-time payment, but will be made in the form of monthly payments until the child turns 5.

MODEL SPECIFIC TO Türkiye
Referring to the work carried out to ensure the safety of children in the digital world, Minister Göktaş said, “Social media regulation for children under the age of 15 has been expected for a long time. In this context, while we impose control on those under the age of 15, we also impose the obligation to provide separated content for our young people between the ages of 15-18.” Touching on the technical details of the regulation, Göktaş said: “We will carry out age verification through the e-Government portal, with a model specific to our country, so that our children’s data will be protected within our own organization without going abroad.” Explaining the latest situation after the tragic school attack in Kahramanmaraş, Göktaş said: “From the moment the incident occurred, we went to the field with 256 personnel. We established direct contact with 3,160 families by establishing a monitoring system not only on a case-based basis but also on a household basis. We have initiated the grief counseling process, especially for our citizens who have lost a child or parent, and we will continue it with determination.”

AK PARTY CAME TO POWER ALONE: When the Constitutional Court canceled the first round of voting on May 1, an early election decision was made. In the elections held on July 22, 2007, the AK Party came to power once again with 46.6 percent of the votes. The subsequent constitutional amendment paved the way for the president to be elected by the people.

THE 367 CRISIS WAS OVERCOME WITH THE SUPPORT OF MHP: The 367 crisis was overcome with MHP’s participation in the sessions during the renewed election process in the Parliament, and Abdullah Gül was elected as the 11th President of Türkiye on 28 August 2007. The controversial declaration was removed from the General Staff’s website in 2011.

POLITICS STANDED UP AGAINST GUARDIANNESS
The AK Party government gave a clear response to this undemocratic intervention in the April 27 e-memorandum, which is remembered as a dark stain in the history of Turkish democracy. In his statement on April 28, 2007, the then Government Spokesperson challenged the tutelage centers by saying, “It is never acceptable in a democratic state of law for the General Staff, an institution reporting to the Prime Minister, to use a statement against the government.” The upright stance of politics once again demonstrated Türkiye’s democratic maturity.

In his speech at the “Muslim Impact Forum 2026” held in a private hotel in Ataköy, Director of Communications Burhanettin Duran said that he was very pleased to host the participants in Istanbul, one of the ancient centers of Islamic civilization.

Stating that the world is going through a deep transformation process today, Duran explained that 20 years ago, this situation could have been considered a normal change in the international system.

Duran, however, pointed out that the situation they are facing today is much more dire and said, “Wars, genocides, pandemics and the gradual weakening of trust in international institutions and norms clearly show that a critical threshold has been crossed. We are indeed passing through a turning point. However, the main issue is that the international community and the institutions that were once considered the backbone of the global system do not have a clear forward-looking vision.” he said.

Emphasizing that there are only some signs, Duran noted that the first sign is clear, the great powers are no longer assuming great responsibilities, and the super powers are becoming increasingly reluctant to assume leadership responsibilities.

Presidential Communications Director Duran explained that the second sign is much more worrying and said: “In many cases, the founders of the old system have become its main destroyers today. They have committed crimes against humanity or tolerated the commission of these crimes. On the other hand, international institutions established to maintain stability and resolve conflicts are becoming increasingly ineffective.” he said.

“THE SPREAD OF MANIPULATION AND FALSE CONTENT IS INCREASING”

Emphasizing that an important dimension of this deep transformation is experienced in the field of communication, Duran stated that many people define the period they are in as a “Communication Age”, but he is of the opinion that they have left this phase behind.

Duran underlined that today, we are in a new era that can be described as the “age of narrative” and said, “In this new era, we are no longer talking about a competition that focuses only on communication, but a narrative competition that is shaped by how realities are framed, how they are interpreted and ultimately how they are accepted by the global public. Nowadays, any message can reach the whole world within seconds. The concept of ‘global village’ put forward by Marshall McLuhan has now become a daily reality for all of us.” made his assessment.

Pointing out that this speed and access capacity brings with it serious risks, Duran said that the spread of disinformation, manipulation and untrue content is gradually increasing, and these trends are blurring the boundaries between truth and lies.

Burhanettin Duran continued as follows:

“In this context, as the Presidency Directorate of Communications, we see the establishment of an information ecosystem based on accurate, confirmed and reliable information as one of our top priorities. Because today, in an environment of increasing uncertainty in the international system, wars are no longer waged not only on the front lines but also in minds, on screens and through perceptions. Fake videos, manipulated contents and organized propaganda networks constitute the new front lines of today’s conflicts. We have to express this clearly: In the age we live in, strategic communication is handled together with conflict areas and crises.” It is a fact that needs to be taken into consideration.”

Duran stated that, as Turkey, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they strive to strengthen the capacity of a state that manages information rationally, shapes the future and acts with a strategic perspective against perception operations.

For this reason, Duran stated that Türkiye, with a perspective shaped by its geography and history, noticed the flaws in the system much earlier and voiced the call for reform before many other actors. “Turkey has played an important role as a mediator and peacekeeper in many of the most severe crises in the world, from the war in Iraq to the civil war in Syria, from the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia to the occupation of some parts of Georgia and Ukraine, from the nuclear crisis around Iran to the genocide in Gaza.” he said.

Duran noted that President Erdoğan’s message “The world is bigger than five” is a direct response to this crisis, and that this statement is a clear call for injustice, imbalance and dysfunction at the center of the global system.

Pointing out that while the international order was being built eighty years ago, the opportunity for Muslim countries and societies to direct this process was almost non-existent, Duran emphasized that international institutions did not provide a sufficient basis to reflect their centuries-old values, traditions and experiences.

Duran stated that for this reason, Muslim societies have become actors who are forced to adopt norms, not norm-setters, and that nearly 50 years ago, Edward Said, in his work “Orientalism”, revealed how Western narratives established a hegemonic relationship over the Middle East and the Islamic world.

Underlining that the representation of the other is never neutral, Duran stated that this representation determines who is considered civilized, who is labeled as backward, and who has the right to speak.

“WE MUST BECOME NORMS SETTER”

Duran mentioned that Said’s later work titled “Covering Islam” reveals how the Western media constantly frames the Islamic world through suspicion and stereotypes.

Pointing out that today, in this transition period, they are faced not only with risks but also with history and an opportunity, Duran said, “We have the opportunity to contribute to the emerging global order. Our duty is clear. We must become norm-makers. We have to bring our values ​​back into the system and overcome the defensive approaches imposed by Islamophobia and Western-centered thought.” he said.

Director of Communications Duran said that he would especially like to emphasize that when it comes to global narratives, technology companies, lobby groups, intelligence networks and digital platforms far from accountability are among the main actors.

Pointing out that these actors determine how conflicts will be framed, whose pain will be visible and whose voice will be ignored, Duran said, “This situation also offers an important opportunity. Muslim societies can reclaim their own narratives and tell their own stories. We have to make a determined effort to break the deep-rooted monopolies on the narrative. First of all, communication processes must include both strong states and active civil societies. Only the efforts of governments are not enough. Academics, journalists, artists and citizens must be an integral part of this process.” he said.

“MUSLIM COMMUNITIES SHOULD BE PROTECTED AGAINST DISINFORMATION”

Presidential Communications Director Duran said:

“Secondly, Muslim societies must be protected against disinformation. Digital literacy is now a must. Verification mechanisms and institutions that combat disinformation are critical in combating Islamophobia, prejudice and hate campaigns. Thirdly, we must build our own communication institutions. We cannot remain merely reacting once narratives have spread. We need to create media platforms, research centers and strategic communication structures that pre-produce reliable information. If we cannot tell our own story, others will continue to tell it on our behalf. And our story will continue to be told on our behalf.” “If they tell us, they will define our place in the world. Therefore, we must reclaim our own narrative, tell our story ourselves, and secure our deserved place in the world on our own terms.”

Hoping that the dialogue and cooperation established here will strengthen unity and solidarity in the Islamic world, Duran wished that the forum would lead to beneficial results for the Islamic world and all humanity.