Paintings by Gazan children reveal Israel’s ‘policy of lies’: Turkish communications director

By Ayse Yildiz

ANTALYA, Türkiye (AA) – Turkish communications director on Friday visited an exhibition by Gazan children painters at Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), saying that it aimed at revealing Israel’s “policy of lies.”

Fahrettin Altun visited the "Bulletproof Dreams: Gaza Child Artists Exhibition" organized by Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.

He told journalists that the ADF was launched as one of Türkiye's most important international public diplomacy brands and hosted many leaders so far.

“This is a very critical and important forum where important global and regional issues will be discussed under the coordination of the Foreign Ministry,” he stressed.

“In this forum, we wanted to explain the Gaza issue, which is really one of the bleeding wounds of the world these days, to the international guests coming here with an innovative exhibition logic,” he stated.

“The exhibition of children artists from Gaza will be opened by our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) together with the leaders,” he said, adding: “They will give their opening speeches of the forum by passing through here.”

The communications director pointed out that the exhibition essentially tells how “great cruelty” was committed by Israel during Operation Cast Lead in 2009.

Stating that the exhibition includes paintings made by children from Gaza, Altun said: "Each of these paintings is a true work of art.”

“These paintings actually reveal how Israel's oppression is a historical oppression,” he underlined.

The official further noted: “Since that day, Israel continues to increase its atrocities in Gaza and Palestine.”

“When you look at the exhibition, which is still open today both here and in Taksim (Istanbul), you can clearly see that, unfortunately, Israel used phosphorus bombs on that day, bombed civilians on that day, killed children and women on that day, and massacred civilians and health workers on that day,” he criticized. “It continues to slaughter them today."

- Need for global cooperation

Altun lamented that children also witnessed the massacres, saying: "In a pure and very clear way, the children have told this with their own lines.”

“You can see this here,” he said.

“We really tried to show this in our exhibition with digital display methods, innovative methods and digital art methods,” the official stressed, adding: “Here, we really wanted to expose the cruelty in Gaza to the global arena with all its nakedness through the eyes of children.”

“In this way, we really want to explain the persecution on the one hand, and on the other hand, we want to show Türkiye's just struggle against this persecution to the whole world in a clear way so that these persecutions do not happen,” he underlined.

“In order to prevent these persecutions, the whole world should cooperate and struggle for truth and justice,” the official urged. “Because this exhibition is also an exhibition aimed at revealing Israel's policy of lies.”

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,228 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 71,377 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Merve Berker