The AI-generated photos in the Gökçek report

AKP MP Osman Gökçek did not entirely deny the allegation by CHP MP Veli Ağbaba that he had a "600 million [lira] villa built."

"I declared it in my statement of assets" he said, confirming that he owns such a magnificent villa. He even confirmed that the villa was built by the company that constructed Ankapark during his father Melih Gökçek's term as mayor...  

Gökçek challenged two elements of Ağbaba's claims; one regarding the value of the villa, and the other regarding the photos of the rooms, bathrooms, and pool inside the thousands-of-square-meter villa...

I cannot speak to the value, but Gökçek is right that those photos are not real.

In fact, the reports in BirGün, Cumhuriyet, and other media outlets include a note stating, "The image was created with artificial intelligence." 

It is good that this information was provided to the reader. However, using "artificial photos" that do not reflect the actual situation in such a report can be misleading. But I spoke with the colleagues who wrote the report; these artificial photos were not produced by the journalists, but were created by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality based on information in the construction company's project file. 

I wish the information that the "artificial photos" were produced by the contractor firm had also been included next to the photos. The reason for using an artificial photo would have been easier to understand, and misunderstandings would have been prevented. 

CUTTING THAT SENTENCE OF TRUMP IS A CRIME 

The remarks by U.S. President-elect Trump regarding President Erdoğan and the overthrow of the regime in Syria created a festive atmosphere in the pro-government media.

Led by Anadolu Agency, the entire media landscape was adorned with headlines such as "Erdoğan is very intelligent and strong" and "Turkey is a great power."

However, there were also columnists in the pro-government media who evaluated Trump's words with a cool head.

One of these names, Özay Şendir, drew attention to a specific sentence by Trump in his column in Milliyet: 

"There are sentences in the statement that we like, but there are also annoying points. For example, the sentence 'Turkey controlled Syria in an unfriendly manner' is the exact opposite of the thesis Ankara has defended until today." 

Sedat Ergin and Yunus Paksoy in Hürriyet also focused on the same sentence in their columns.

Sedat Ergin emphasized that the term "unfriendly takeover," which Trump used drawing inspiration from his "business life," could be translated into Turkish as "dostane olmayan el koyma" and means "a company acquiring the shares of another company without the owner's consent."

Yunus Paksoy, in his article titled "What did Trump mean," also attempted to analyze this sentence and noted that Trump did not use the term "hostile takeover," which could imply a "seizure" or "takeover." 

Murat Yetkin from the opposition media went a step further in his article on Yetkinreport, translating the term "unfriendly takeover" directly as "çökme" (seizure/takeover) and reporting Trump's sentence as "Turkey has seized Syria." Yetkin also underscored that this statement by Trump was "not possible to find in most of the news in the Turkish media."

This observation by Yetkin was correct. In the news reports of the pro-government media, including Milliyet, which is managed by Özay Şendir, as well as other newspapers, news sites, and TV channels, there was no trace of Trump's sentence, "Turkey has controlled Syria in an unfriendly manner." Leaving aside Hürriyet, Sabah, Akşam, Türkiye, Yeni Şafak, and their likes, even the Anadolu Agency had filtered out this sentence. 

This sentence was also not mentioned in the interview President Erdoğan held with journalists on the plane upon his return from Cairo. Yet, this sentence from Trump was very valuable for understanding his perspective on Turkey's Syria policy. Indeed, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had to respond to a question regarding this sentence and express a reaction during his interview with Al Jazeera. In other words, they could no longer ignore it... 

News reports that only included words of praise and ignored this sentence reflecting dissatisfaction were a complete deception; they were a journalistic crime. A journalist is primarily obligated to publish information completely; bending and twisting information is the job of propagandists.

If the pro-government media acted this way, what did the opposition media do? As a matter of fact, very few of them grasped the importance of this sentence and included it in their news. Only a few sites like ANKA, Artı Gerçek, and Milli Gazete featured these sentences in their headlines. 

Thus, the loss of reflex in the opposition media manifested itself once again.... 

ERRORS IN THE ''LOST MOSQUE'' STORY 

The media journey of the 200-year-old wooden Eskiköy Mosque in Ordu began exactly two years ago. 

Reports published in Yeniçağ, Cumhuriyet, and local media on April 16-17, 2022, carried headlines such as "They stole the historical mosque under the guise of restoration" and "They lost the historical mosque."

Based on a video released by CHP Ordu Deputy Mustafa Adıgüzel and a parliamentary question he submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), the reports stated, "The Ordu Metropolitan Municipality had awarded the repair work of the 200-year-old wooden mosque to a company in December 2020. The company that dismantled the mosque's planks disappeared." The report also included a photo of Adıgüzel taken in front of the mosque, whose restoration had been left unfinished.

The state of the mosque was featured again on December 16, 2022, this time on the Sözcü website, "They were going to restore the historical mosque, they destroyed it" it was published as. The photos used in Cumhuriyet eight months earlier were included, but there was no mention of the previous reports at all.

Adıgüzel never forgot about the mosque; he submitted two more parliamentary questions. This year, during his speech at the budget negotiations in the TBMM, while refuting the words of Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, who claimed that "during the CHP era, they locked the doors of mosques and turned them into barns," he brought up the Eskiköy Mosque again: 

"Have you ever heard of a municipality stealing a mosque? I have seen it, friends. In Eskiköy, Ordu, this AKP Metropolitan Municipality, which claimed it would 'restore' the historic wooden mosque, has stolen and destroyed it." 

These remarks by Adıgüzel were reported on the front page of Sözcü on December 17 under the headline 'Century-old mosque stolen.' However, the report failed to mention the background of the incident, and photos of the mosque and Adıgüzel taken two years ago were once again used as if they were new.

Following this, the Ordu Metropolitan Municipality issued a statement on the same day, announcing that the mosque in the Gürgentepe district had been restored and was ready for worship. Pro-government sites and newspapers such as DHA, Akşam, Haber7, Sabah, and Yeni Şafak published reports titled 'The mosque that the CHP deputy claimed was stolen turns out to be ready for worship,' and included photos of the mosque's current state. 

I spoke with Adıgüzel, who emphasized that it was only as a result of his pressure that the AKP municipality continued the restoration, yet even after four years, the mosque still cannot be opened for worship. He said, 'After the mosque was dismantled, the wooden pieces rotted in the snow and rain for two full years; they used new planks to replace them. Some of the valuable carved pieces inside are gone forever.' He submitted a new parliamentary question the other day addressing these issues. 

Adıgüzel has done his part as a member of parliament, but the same cannot be said for the journalism involved. When writing this report, it was necessary to refer to previous coverage, summarize the history of the incident, and provide context for the photos used.  

Unfortunately, these requirements were not met in the Sözcü report. In particular, reusing photos that appeared in Sözcü two years ago as if they were newly taken, and failing to investigate the current state of the mosque, are grave errors... 

Failing to publish the municipality's statement does not cover up the mistake; it only compounds it. 

WHY IS THAT CHILD'S EYE OPEN? 

It was inappropriate for CHP Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan to ask a child who was requesting a job for his father, 'Does your father take bribes?' and 'Does your father steal?' 

A mayor speaking to a 9-10-year-old child in such a mocking, condescending manner that devalues the father was widely criticized. However, it was equally wrong for news reports regarding Özarslan's speech to publish the child's images and photos with his face clearly visible. We cannot know how these photos and images will affect that child in the future or what negative consequences they might create. Even if they only lead to the child being subjected to peer bullying, these images and photos will cause harm to that child. 

It should have been considered that these images and photos would create a digital footprint for that child and might haunt him for the rest of his life. It is regrettable that almost no media organization considered the best interests of the child by blurring his face... 

In a single sentence:

While Cem Küçük claimed on X that his praise for the dental clinic where he received 'root canal treatment and implants' was 'definitely not an advertisement but a sharing of experience,' he was, in fact, promoting and recommending the clinic he named.

In the Türkiye newspaper's report titled 'We entered the lair of the vicious terrorist,' referring to Mihraç Ural as a 'Nusayri terrorist' was discriminatory and used language that generates hate speech, much like saying 'Muslim terrorist'. 

Hürriyet and Karar confused 'minimum' with 'limit' by calling the news about the mandatory minimum spending requirement of at least 1,500 liras in some restaurants a 'spending limit in restaurants'. 

It was incorrect for Milli Gazete to report the conviction of someone who opened a social media account in someone else's name—not an anonymous account holder—under the headline 'Bad news for anonymous trolls'. 

In the IHA report titled 'Dismissed tram driver raids metro center,' the word 'tutukluluk' (imprisonment) was used instead of 'tutukluk' (jamming) regarding the weapon: The error was not corrected in Akşam, Haber7, or Sözcü; it was even pronounced as 'imprisonment' on the Haber Masası program on Halk TV. 

The report 'New Frontera in Turkey in the spring,' which began with the praise 'Bringing the technology of the future to today' on Cumhuriyet's 'Automobile' page, was word-for-word identical to the company bulletin published on Opel's website; the bulletin was merely slightly shortened. 

Sabah was the only pro-government newspaper to publish a six-day series of articles titled 'FETÖ's December 17-25 betrayal' regarding the December 17-25, 2013 process, which even MHP Chairman Bahçeli once referred to as 'the week of fighting against bribery and corruption.' 

In the Yeni Şafak report 'They multiplied the debts,' CHP-run municipalities with Social Security Institution (SGK) premium debts were listed, but AKP-run municipalities with large debts, such as Kocaeli, Samsun, and Malatya, were not mentioned.

The reports by DHA, IHA, and NTV regarding the death of social media influencer Neşe Özkan following cosmetic surgery did not name the private hospital in Istanbul that was being accused.

Akşam published a GSM company's advertising copy as if it were a news report, titled 'Parents are monitoring, children are safe,' without including an advertisement disclaimer.  

In the IHA and Yeni Şafak report 'Vocational high school generated 7 million in turnover in 1 year,' it was stated that students were paid 'at least 30 percent of the labor,' but in reality, 30 percent of the revenue is distributed to the students.

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