Prime Minister, Binali Yıldırım said on July 15th Türksat gave martyrs during the coup attempt carried out by FETÖ, but it did not allow for Türksat to be seized or broadcasts to be silenced.
Yıldırım, speaking at the 33rd National Informatics Congress, organized by the Turkish Informatics Association (TBD) and held under the main sponsorship of Türksat, remarked that nothing would be possible without communication. He said:
"In the past, people would learn about coups much later. What is going on up there, who is confronting who, they didn’t have a chance to find out. Coup traitors went after TRT, they partially succeeded in taking it over, but immediately after that they went after Türksat. Türksat gave martyrs but did not surrender. Our heroes there did not allow for Türksat to be seized or for the broadcasts to be silenced. They went and bombed a dish left from analogue system, saying, 'This is a very large dish, this will definitely silence Türksat.' It was just symbolically there. It was something left behind from the 1990s, but it did not carry out any tasks. Our friends were able to keep them busy for hours while being under threat. They never gave into their demands. After a short time, by switching on the backup system they put TRT back on air. In the private sector, they went after CNN, and they did not succeed there either. Therefore, we have to give credit to informatics in that it played a part in suppressing the coup. We have to give credit to our broadcasting organizations who contributed by putting forth their understanding of patriotism with broadcasts and statements."
"We saw the power of informatics on July 15th"
Noting that informatics and democracy are very meaningful and important themes, Yıldırım noted that they saw the power of informatics on the night of July 15th.
Prime Minister Yıldırım, noted that on the night of July 15th the traitor coup plotters thought they had everything planned out. He continued by saying:
"The armed forces, wore military attire and showed themselves like members of the glorious, honorable army and seized tanks, helicopters, planes, and weapons. They thought in a dismissive manner ‘Now everything is ours. No one can stand up against us,’ and shamelessly tried to take over areas. However, everything was accounted for, but there was one thing that they did not account for. That thing they could not account for was the nation’s love for independence and freedom."
"The secret heroes behind this were the members of the media and press”
Yıldırım went onto say that the things experienced on the night of July 15th were not limited to this. He said:
"If you ask me, I think the secret heroes behind this were the members of the media and press. Because the press and the media undertook a historical mission here. By acting not according to a command or instructions. From this event they took it upon themselves, every private and public media outlet took a stance against the coup and kept informing the citizen in a timely manner."
"I made roughly 600 phone calls throughout the span of 11 hours"
"The announcement we made around 22.00 and the following announcement after that was an important beginning that actually demoralized the coup plotters and changed the whole chemistry of the coup plotters" Prime Minister Yıldırım continued:
"When I look back on that night, I made roughly 600 phone calls throughout the span of 11 hours. All these operations, including the operations that had to be carried out against the coup, the mobilization of friendly forces against air attacks and how to suppress them, the regions where these terror groups were nesting, especially Akıncı Airbase, our patriotic army, the deployment of our police, were made possible with communication. In the darkness, you can take care of all your businesses with ease. You can contact whoever you want, you can video conference and talk, you can relay your messages and can decide what to do according to developing situations. Simply, you can run your business without your office. Our President did this, we did it too. But the real power behind this was the power of communication."
"After July 15th we saw that there has been a serious increase in cyber-attacks"
Yıldırım emphasized that it is not right to think of "cyber security" only in terms of safety, "We need to add a cyber-deterrent. We aren’t going mess with anyone for no reason, but we have must have a response to anyone who is considering attacking us. "
Yıldırım said that this was experienced during the coup attempt on July 15th. He added:
"When we look at the events after July 15th we see that there has been significant increase in cyber-attacks. Is this a coincidence? No. Those who couldn’t get any results from July 15th, this time attacked our infrastructure from other platforms. For example, between July 8-14th only 183 serious attacks were carried out. We see this number increase to 407 between August 5-11th. It reaches 753 between August 12-18th. What does this mean? Before the attacks, while at 2.25, it increased by 4 folds. There is still a slight decrease in the number of cyber-attacks, but it continues on the same level since July 15th. As Turkey, we foresee these attacks earlier and take high-level measures, but this must be sustainable. Institutionalization needs to be further increased."
Yıldırım noted that a small, amateur-spirited and excited team was working at Havelsan and the Information Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). He said, "There are precautions taken but the size of the attack is so big that this organization is not enough but what is more important is the realization of mentality change in institutions."
Yıldırım reminded that the Cyber Security Council has been established, the legal infrastructure has been established, and the course of action plan covering the years 2016-2019 has been prepared. He added that through the National Cybercrime Intervention Center (USOM), operations regarding cyber security have started working round the clock, 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
At the moment, 528 institutions have intervention teams for cyber incidents and that graduate and doctoral classes are being given at universities. Yıldırım noted that this issue could also be developed if the legal regulations in November are inadequate.
Prime Minister Yıldırım pointed out that a very important portion of the money spent on information processing technologies went to foreign software platforms, licenses or hardware. He said:
"We are not making value-added investments and foreigners are earning more than our domestic sectors. They earn it without doing anything. Because it's smart. They have the mind and we have the money. The one who has the brain power gets the money. We have more brain power but it is important to channel it to the right place. Let’s change that. The time has come. Leave aside individual competition, leave aside small accounts. For the national security of our country, for the prosperity of our country, we need to join our power for the development of our country. Support comes from us. "
Yıldırım pointed out that in 2017 more important steps should be taken in terms of domestication and nationalization and stated that necessary precautions were being taken in regards to this.
"Every product we add brain power to gives us an edge"
Yıldırım noted that if the necessary measures are not taken it cannot be considered save at any given time. He said:
"A way to do this is to keep data centers on our territory. Information has to be within our reach. If we have knowledge, if we can produce knowledge, if we can use knowledge as power when necessary, then we can stand more upright in front of others. We can express our interests, the issues of our country with a louder voice. "
Yıldırım emphasized that informatics and democracy go hand in hand, and that the need for transparency, accountability and economic development are also required. He said, "In informatics, investment in a field result in a 25-fold return, 1 to 25. Each product we add brain power; each product we make a difference with gives us an advantage. It allows for us to be one step ahead.”
"Let informatics take care of archiving, let’s stay current in our heads"
Yıldırım stated that they declared 2017 the year of informatics and communication, and that these two subjects should be concentrated on and that one of these will help "increase the capacity of intelligence"
Yıldırım wants to increase the speed of internet as much as possible. Referring to the great benefit of this, Yıldırım said that more tasks would be carried out in every field via the internet. Yıldırım expressed that the internet is a part of life and that the next step is "artificial intelligence."
Prime Minister Yıldırım said that now when you want to access information with specific words written into the search engine the topic can be accessed. He added:
"Let informatics take care of archiving, let’s stay current in our heads. This will happen with mental transformation. Cognition is achieved by providing the necessary familiarity with access to information. We cannot boast about having '278 thousand kilometers of internet informatics network'. Okay, we initially started with 80 thousand kilometers, this is a merge but it is extraordinarily modest, in terms of our future need."
Yıldırım called out to the operators, "These roads belong to all of us. The road is the infrastructure, do the work you want, compete as you like, make as much difference as you want, but do not fight for the road. The road is the common value, the common need. Let's build a path together, everyone will fulfill their duty."
"We will make the computing economy much bigger"
Prime Minister Yıldırım emphasized the need to speed up the process of domestication and nationalization starting with software with the inclusion of hardware and said that they would support the production of national technology and enlarge the informatics economy.
Yıldırım said that they had the means to provide all kinds of support related to information technology and he recommended the establishment of a company by bringing together the civil society organizations and leaving behind competition of any sort.
Yıldırım, noted that business will not be carried with just any company. He added, "In this regard Türksat can carry out all kinds of coordination, it has every opportunity. Friends, sit down, work it out and mutually reach an agreement.”
TBD President Tabak: "Let 2017 be the year of informatics in Turkey"
İlker Tabak, President of the Turkish Informatics Association (TBD) called for 2017 to be the year of informatics in Turkey during his speech. He said, "As the informatics sector we are ready to set aside our differences for the future of Turkey."
Tabak stated that they are greatly pleased with the exclusive incentive practices that will be applied to the basic 7 sectors, especially to the informatics sector.
Tabak pointed out that the Fetullahçı Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) treacherous coup attempt showed that information and communication technologies played a critical role in securing democracy. In this context, Tabak said that the main theme of this year's National Informatics Congress is "Informatics and Democracy".
Following the opening speeches, Yasemin Özsoy, wife of Ahmet Özsoy, Osman Sefa Karslı, son of Ali Karslı, Türksat CEO, Cenk Şen, CNN Türk-Kanal D Ankara Representative, Hande Fırat, Hürriyet Newspaper Colomnist, Abdulkadir Selvi and CNN Turk General Manager, Erdoğan Aktaş, NTV Executive Editor Nermin Yurteri, A Haber Executive Editor, Abdülhalık Çimen, Türk Telekom Executive Manager, Paul Doany, Turkcell Executive Manager, Kaan Terzioğlu and Vodafone Turkey Executive Vice President, Hasan Süel were given each "Informatics and Democracy” awards.
As part of the Congress’s The Hearing Impaired are Speaking: "No Obstacle in e-Government" panel, Günay Bozkurt and Sami Yenice made their attendance as speakers with the help of Türksat personnel, Nihat Kihtir’s moderation.
In addition, Türksat’s stand and photography exhibition, which was established in the activity area, attracted great interest from the participants.