The files sent by the whistleblower to prosecutors indicate that some media organizations were effectively used for the purposes of psychological warfare. A file titled “Yeni değişiklik ile 10 dakika kısa brifing, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı, 3 Eylül” (10-minute short briefing with new changes, General Staff, Sept. 3) contains a detailed account of the programs provided by the General Staff Information Support Unit to various TV channels. The file first explains why the Information Support Unit was established and then moves on to list the threats against psychological warfare: “justice, democracy, human rights, equality, peace.”
The briefing is divided into sections on the activities that were to be conducted domestically and abroad and puts particular emphasis on the use of the press and TV in the activities to be conducted at home. The subheading “TV shooting” under the section “Information support activities conducted/to be conducted domestically” explains that several programs related to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the military were ordered from various TV channels. In this context, the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) prepared “Savaşta ve Barışta Türk Ordusu” (Turkish Army in Wartime and Peacetime) while Show TV prepared “Mehmetçik” and Art TV “Mehmetçik Önce Vatan” (Mehmetçik Homeland First). Under the heading, “Media Activities,” the briefing also includes an assessment of when and where these programs, which seem to have been commissioned in order to boost social awareness of the military, were prepared.
It was not possible to get information from TRT officials concerning the TV program “Savaşta ve Barışta Türk Ordusu,” commissioned by the Information Support Unit, which has been aired for two years. It appears that no one from TRT, including the TRT’s cultural programs department, has any information about this program. A TRT official, saying that he does not have much information about the program, said it came to them on cassettes and they just aired it.
