ANKARA<\/p>\n
Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan called out Israel for intentionally targeting journalists in the Gaza Strip, saying Israel is suppressing the truth.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Turkish Communications Directorate\u2019s \u201cWomen Witnesses of Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza\u201d program, Erdogan said Israel has killed close to 300 journalists in two years, including 37 women, calling the figures unprecedented in modern conflict reporting.<\/p>\n
Before the program, Erdogan viewed an exhibit featuring photos of journalists who were killed. She also welcomed Palestinian reporters and filmmaker Basel Adra, whose documentary No Other Land has received international recognition.<\/p>\n
Erdogan praised Adra\u2019s work for drawing global attention to the long-term displacement and violence faced by Palestinians.<\/p>\n
She said Israel has bombed journalists\u2019 homes, targeted reporters with drones in hospital courtyards, and detained others under harsh conditions, adding these actions reflect a broader attempt to restrict any documentation of events on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are placing truth under blockade. Instead of protecting journalists, they disregard international law and norms and deliberately target them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsider this: the Israeli army bombed the homes of Palestinian journalists to intimidate them. They wiped them out along with their families and neighbors. Even in hospital courtyards, which should be the safest places, they killed journalists with drones. Those they could not kill were left to die in prisons that have become factories of some of the worst atrocities in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo prevent the truth from reaching the world, Israel carried out a systematic field execution policy. Not satisfied with that, they labeled the journalists they killed \u2018terrorists\u2019 to justify their crimes. They shut down the offices of national media outlets such as Al Jazeera, calling them a \u2018national threat\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said journalists in Gaza continued reporting despite losing family members and colleagues.<\/p>\n
He said Western media organizations contributed to information suppression by adopting editorial approaches that downplayed or ignored developments in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cJournalists lost their families and colleagues. They went hungry and thirsty, but they never gave up on one thing: delivering the truth to the world and telling the story of Palestine. They succeeded despite everything. Despite the different stances taken by some Western-centered international media outlets, they succeeded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese outlets systematically turned into propaganda tools of genocide through disinformation, manipulation, blackout tactics, and false reporting. This did not happen only in conventional media. Supportive actions toward Israel in digital media also became shameful marks in history. Social media companies used algorithms as weapons, building digital walls to silence Palestinian voices,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Duran acknowledged the work of Turkish media organizations, including state broadcaster TRT and Anadolu, for maintaining regular reporting from Gaza and supporting Palestinian journalists.<\/p>\n
He said the events in Gaza have demonstrated the need for stronger national control over digital infrastructure and data systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gaza crisis has shown that digital sovereignty is directly connected to national security,\u201d said Duran, noting that T\u00fcrkiye is working to expand local platforms and reinforce domestic data networks.<\/p>\n