Thirty university students examined the relationship between historical events, political secrecy and conspiracy thinking through six interactive workshops. Using the Conspirology methodology, participants explored how fictional narratives can acquire credibility and how critical thinking can help distinguish documented facts from unsupported claims.
What happens when real historical events become the foundation for conspiracy theories? How can political scandals, secret organisations and popular television series shape public perceptions of power? And where does legitimate suspicion end and unfounded speculation begin?
These questions guided a series of six face-to-face workshops organised by Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) within the framework of the European research project CONSPIRE.
Held every two weeks between February and June 2026, the workshops brought together 30 students from different university departments, all participating voluntarily in an educational experience combining historical analysis, media literacy, collaborative learning and interactive debate.
Led by Doğan Gürpınar, the activities offered a distinctive perspective on conspiracy thinking, exploring how narratives of hidden power can emerge from genuine historical experiences of political secrecy, coups and violence.
Rather than treating conspiracy theories simply as irrational beliefs, the workshops invited students to investigate the historical and cultural conditions that make such narratives persuasive.
Understanding conspiracy thinking through Türkiye’s political history
One of the defining features of the Istanbul workshops was their strong connection to Turkish political history.
The discussions focused particularly on the concept of the deep state, known in Turkish as derin devlet, a recurring theme in the country’s political discourse.
The concept gained particular prominence following the 1996 Susurluk scandal, which exposed controversial connections involving political institutions, security structures and organised crime.
Such historical episodes provide an important starting point for understanding why narratives about hidden networks of influence can resonate with public audiences.
However, the workshops also explored a fundamental distinction: recognising that secret activities and covert political relationships have existed does not automatically validate claims that an all-powerful hidden organisation controls every political development.
This distinction became central to the students’ learning experience.
The activities also examined the relationship between conspiracy thinking and popular culture, particularly through the Turkish television series Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the Wolves).
The series, which portrays secret networks, organised crime and political intrigue, provided an opportunity to investigate how fictional representations of power can influence interpretations of real-world events.
In this context, students explored how audiences may begin to perceive fictional stories not merely as entertainment, but as supposed revelations of hidden political realities.
Play the Conspiracy: learning to construct and challenge narratives
The educational programme adopted an interactive approach rather than relying on traditional lectures.
During the initial sessions, students analysed historical readings, documents and media materials, discussing how conspiracy narratives emerge, circulate and adapt to changing political and social circumstances.
The subsequent Play the Conspiracy activities introduced the Conspirology methodology, transforming these reflections into a structured role-playing exercise.
Students were divided into groups and invited to develop conspiracy narratives around three themes drawn from Turkish political culture.
The first scenario imagined elected governments and visible political institutions as mere façades, with actual decisions controlled by hidden organisations operating beyond democratic accountability.
Inspired by Kurtlar Vadisi, the second scenario proposed that the fictional secret council portrayed in the television series actually existed and controlled both state institutions and organised crime. According to this invented narrative, the series had revealed a hidden reality rather than created a fictional story.
The third scenario explored the claim that ideological extremism across the political spectrum, including left-wing, right-wing and subversive movements, was deliberately orchestrated to weaken Türkiye.
These scenarios were not presented as factual explanations, but as fictional narratives constructed for educational purposes.
Through the exercise, students experimented with the techniques that can make conspiracy theories appear convincing: selectively combining real historical events, presenting apparently documentary evidence, connecting unrelated facts and interpreting the absence of evidence as proof of deliberate concealment.
By experiencing these mechanisms directly, participants could better understand how conspiracy narratives transform uncertainty into apparent certainty.
Three roles, one objective: strengthening critical thinking
The Conspirology methodology assigned students three complementary roles: supporters, debunkers and judges.
The supporters were responsible for constructing and defending each conspiracy narrative as persuasively as possible. Their challenge was to develop a coherent argument capable of convincing an audience, even when its underlying assumptions were unsupported.
The debunkers approached the same narratives from an evidence-based perspective. They examined sources, distinguished documented facts from interpretations, identified logical fallacies and proposed alternative explanations grounded in verifiable information.
The judges evaluated the arguments presented by both sides, focusing on the quality of evidence and reasoning rather than rhetorical effectiveness alone.
Each group presented its arguments and responded to opposing positions through structured debates. Students rotated between roles across the three scenarios, allowing them to experience different perspectives and responsibilities.
This structure encouraged participants to recognise that the strength of an argument should depend on the evidence supporting it, not simply on how convincingly it is presented.
The facilitator provided historical context, relevant sources and methodological guidance without supplying ready-made narratives or rebuttals.
Interventions during the debates were limited to clarifying questions and methodological observations, preserving students’ responsibility for developing their own arguments.
Closing discussions then connected the fictional exercises with the historical cases examined earlier in the programme.
When fiction becomes perceived evidence
One of the most interesting dimensions of the Istanbul experience concerned the relationship between fiction, media and political imagination.
Through the example of Kurtlar Vadisi, students examined how popular culture can contribute to the circulation and reinforcement of conspiracy narratives.
A fictional representation of secret political power can become particularly influential when it draws on historical events, familiar social anxieties or existing public distrust.
In such circumstances, audiences may interpret the repetition of certain themes across entertainment, political discourse and digital media as confirmation of their authenticity.
The workshops encouraged students to question this process and consider how sources, framing and repetition contribute to the perceived credibility of information.
The distinction between documented secrecy and an unfalsifiable claim of total hidden control was especially important.
While historical investigation can establish the existence of specific covert activities, conspiracy thinking may extend those findings into comprehensive explanations that cannot be tested or disproved.
Recognising this difference is essential for developing a critical relationship with information without dismissing legitimate historical inquiry.
From persuasive storytelling to evidence-based judgement
According to the workshop report, the activities contributed to four interconnected learning outcomes.
First, students strengthened their critical thinking skills by learning to distinguish documented political secrecy from speculative claims about universal hidden control.
Second, they developed media literacy competences, reflecting on how fictional narratives can be interpreted as factual disclosures and how information acquires credibility through repetition, framing and presentation.
Third, the collaborative structure of the activities encouraged teamwork. Students shared research responsibilities, constructed collective arguments and negotiated different interpretations of the available material.
Finally, the judging exercises reinforced the importance of evidence-based assessment. Participants were required not only to evaluate competing arguments but also to explain and justify their conclusions publicly.
Together, these outcomes demonstrate the educational value of combining historical knowledge with active participation and structured debate.
CONSPIRE and the importance of historically informed media literacy
The Istanbul Technical University workshops offer an important contribution to the broader educational objectives of CONSPIRE.
Their distinctive approach demonstrates that understanding conspiracy theories requires more than identifying false statements or correcting inaccurate information.
It also involves examining the historical experiences, cultural representations and political contexts that can make certain narratives credible to particular audiences.
By integrating historical analysis with participatory learning, the Istanbul activities created opportunities for students to investigate conspiracy thinking without reducing complex social phenomena to simplistic explanations.
The workshops also illustrate the potential of the Conspirology methodology as an educational tool capable of encouraging discussion, critical reflection and collaborative investigation.
Through the experiences developed by its university partners, CONSPIRE contributes to exploring educational practices that strengthen critical thinking, media literacy and the ability to navigate increasingly complex information environments.
The lesson emerging from Istanbul is particularly relevant to contemporary European democracies: effective media literacy does not require citizens to abandon scepticism, but to apply it consistently, distinguishing legitimate questions about power from narratives that replace evidence with speculation.
