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The III. Political Psychology Symposium, organized to discuss changing political perceptions in the digital world, disinformation processes, and the new relationship forms that modern individuals establish with truth on a scientific basis, was held simultaneously on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at the Ziraat Bank Library conference halls under the main theme of "The Psychology of Politics in the Post-Truth Era."

The opening ceremony of the symposium was attended by the Ambassador of Brunei, Prof. Dr. Hamit Ersoy, our Rector Prof. Dr. Gülfettin Çelik, Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences Prof. Dr. Faruk Bal, and Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration Prof. Dr. Alim Yılmaz, along with numerous academics and students.

"The Ability to Advance the Impossible is the Responsibility of Science and Academia"

The program began with opening remarks by our Rector Prof. Dr. Gülfettin Çelik. In his speech, Çelik discussed university models in Morocco and the transformative power of artificial intelligence in the academic world, stating, "In a world where even things repeated twice can be solved with artificial intelligence, creating an image and perception in people will bring entirely different problems into play. Academia must reach a whole new level in terms of perceptions and underlying facts."

Continuing his speech, our Rector touched upon the fundamental mission of the university, emphasizing the importance of innovation in education with the words, "What is the role of science, the role of academia? It is the ability to advance what does not yet exist. This is the university of our age." He also drew attention to the potential of social sciences in solving social problems, stating that transitioning to a work-based and industry-integrated education model is a critical threshold for Türkiye.

Then, taking the floor for the academic opening presentation, Istanbul Medipol University faculty member Prof. Dr. Bekir Berat Özipek, in his academic opening presentation titled "What We Can Find While Searching for the Truth," questioned the claim of "newness" in the period we are in and stated that intellectual humility must be combined with human sensitivity. "Combining intellectual humility with fundamental human sensitivities, striving to bear witness to the truth... Perhaps the key lies in encompassing both academic, scientific knowledge and the knowledge of everyday life."

Following the opening speeches, the first session, moderated by Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Kaynak from Üsküdar University, featured presentations by Prof. Dr. Hadiye Yılmaz Odabaşı from Üsküdar University and Dr. Ayça Ferda Kansu from Istanbul Aydın University, titled "The Reconstruction of Early Republican History in the Post-Truth Context: Social Representations, Discourse, and Debates," analyzing how historical narratives have been reshaped in the modern era.

The session continued with a discussion of the psychological codes of global and local politics. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Helin Sarı Ertem from our university evaluated the effects of populist discourse on democratic systems using the example of the United States in her presentation titled "Populism and Trump's America in the Grip of Authoritarianism in the Post-Truth Era." Also from our university, Dr. Didem Geylani read the transformations in Turkish political life through the concept of "Meta-Truth," while Dr. Faruk Aksoy from Bilkent University presented his work titled "Unionism Again? An Empirical Study on the Perception of Enver Pasha in Türkiye," scientifically demonstrated the place of historical figures in contemporary perception.

The symposium continued with parallel sessions. In the morning session, the political, cognitive, and post-colonial dimensions of the post-truth era were discussed in depth in three separate rooms. The first session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Çolak, addressed epistemological crises in the tension between reason and emotion, the transformation of the concepts of truth and reality, and the emotion of "fear" as a determinant of the political sphere from a Hobbesian perspective. At the same time, the second session, chaired by Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Kadı, examined post-colonial psychology and identity politics on a plane stretching from Ancient Greece to modern Britain. In particular, the knowledge framing processes that shaped Muslim intellectuals' discourses of resistance to colonialism and their attitudes towards immigrants in Türkiye were analyzed. In the third session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kemal Bayram, the themes of neuropolitics and cognitive manipulation came to the fore. Global apathy towards the Palestinian issue was analyzed through the "bystander effect," while the guiding effect of political neuro-marketing on democratic will and the ontological basis of feelings of "resentment" and "anger" in nihilistic times were shared with participants.

The fourth session, chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma İlknur Akgül, examined the fundamental psychological mechanisms that shape political perception. This session used scientific data to explain the relationship between identity politics and violence, the "Shared Human Identity" theory aimed at reducing dehumanization, and the changing role of leadership with the personalization of politics.  At the same time, the fifth session, chaired by Asst. Prof. Dr. Muhammet Erdal Okutan, discussed the links between crowd management and political psychology. In particular, the risks posed by deepfake technologies to public order, the transformation of the current "stray dog" debate in Türkiye into an instrument of polarization, and the effects of "chosen trauma" on nationalism, as exemplified by the Bosnian War, were analyzed.  The sixth session, led by Prof. Dr. Tarkan Oktay, focused on the psychology of political participation in the digital age. New behavioral patterns brought about by the digital world were explained, ranging from the effects of post-truth discourse during the pandemic on public administration to the levels of political participation among diaspora youth in France and the relationship between the tendency to "scroll through disasters" on social media platforms and belief in conspiracy theories.

In the final series of concurrent sessions held towards the end of the symposium day, the social reflections of the digital age, the psychological background of global crises, and identity searches were addressed from a multi-layered perspective. In the seventh session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Michelangelo Guida, the effects of artificial intelligence and digital transformation on mass psychology, the role of digital belonging and group pressure in the Z generation in the construction of political identity, and the echoes of "Ostrakismos," an ancient practice of exclusion, in the digital age were discussed. The eighth session, moderated by Asst. Prof. Dr. Turgay Ovalı, analyzed "political greenwashing" through China's "One Belt, One Road" project, focusing on climate anxiety and global crises. the psychological mechanisms of alternative realities constructed in the Israeli public sphere, and comparative analysis of social attitudes towards Syrian and n refugees in Türkiye and Germany. In the ninth session, chaired by Asst. Prof. Dr. Mesut Malik Yavuz, topics such as the search for post-colonial identity through the example of Brunei, the rise of populism from a Jungian psychology perspective, and cognitive biases in voter behavior were shared with participants.

The symposium, which continued throughout the day with simultaneous sessions in three different halls, did not limit itself to theoretical discussions but contributed to the social sciences literature in Türkiye by presenting concrete data and interdisciplinary analyses on current crises, ranging from migration to digital leadership and from state violence to environmental image management. The 47 papers presented by 52 researchers from 18 different universities revealed that the concept of "post-truth" is not merely a communication problem, but also a profound psychological and political transformation.