UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT
By Muhammed Enes Calli
ISTANBUL (AA) – Israel is targeting not only women and children in Gaza but also journalists trying to work under difficult conditions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
International organizations are responsible for the world's inability to establish global peace and security and solve problems, Erdogan said in an address to the TRT World Forum 2023 in Istanbul.
"Global media cartels are trying to cover up the brutality in Gaza and legitimize the massacre of journalists under the pretext of Hamas," he added, referring to Israel's attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7, which have taken over 17,000 lives, most of them women and children.
"Every day a journalist is being killed, yet from institutions that for years have been preaching about press freedom all we hear is silence," he said.
Lauding Turkish media outlets for reporting on Gaza accurately, showing the world the real conditions there under a deadly siege, he said: "I would like to congratulate TRT, Anadolu, and our other media institutions that opened up a vital corridor from Gaza to the world.”
Over 70 journalists have been killed in Gaza, said Erdogan, adding: "Where is the world's renowned press? Why don't they publish headlines about the journalists killed?"
Erdogan recalled that Israel had killed a journalist working for Anadolu as a freelance cameraman reporting from Gaza and also had broken the video camera of a TRT News journalist while he was covering the events in Jerusalem's Old City.
Despite attacking the journalists, Israel could not prevent the truth from being uncovered, he said.
The main goal is to expose the lies and accusations about Gaza and to make them known to all of humanity, especially to Türkiye, the president added.
"Despite all its barbarity, Israel is also losing its propaganda war in media, unable to break the resilience of people of Gaza," he said.
"Wherever they are in the world, media members, especially all conscientious individuals, must be courageous, stand tall, and speak the truth and justice openly and sincerely.
"If Israel's cruelty can't be stopped, no one could feel safe anywhere in the world," said Erdogan, adding: "Because the Pandora's box has opened."
Despite some Western countries being well aware of the crimes committed by Israel, they act with a sense of embarrassment, Erdogan said.
"Just as (former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan) Milosevic was tried and convicted, I believe that (Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his accomplices will be judged in the same way and ultimately be convicted."
Netanyahu and his supporters are also "terrorists as the accomplices of terrorism" and will "undoubtedly" be tried at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, he added.
"It is not the West – which pours fuel on the fire – which pays the price for every moment lost in achieving lasting peace, but unfortunately the innocents," the Turkish president said.
The US and European countries, by ignoring the Palestinian people and especially the oppressed in Gaza, are doing the greatest harm to themselves, Erdogan said.
"They are still unaware that they have undergone a test that will fundamentally shake the security and welfare order over which the West trembles."
Erdogan said he finds antisemitism "inhuman," adding but antisemitism is being fueled by Netanyahu and his associates for "political gain."
- Türkiye ready to assume responsibility to 'prevent more bloodshed in Gaza'
"Türkiye is ready to shoulder the responsibility to prevent more bloodshed from happening (in Gaza)," Erdogan said, referring to its offer to mediate peace or serve as a guarantor for the region.
"In a just peace, there are no losers," he added.
"We will not give up proclaiming justice and the truth, regardless of who may be uneasy about it," he said.
The Turkish president also welcomed and praised UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he became the organization's top official in 2017, as he urged the UN Security Council to act on the war in Gaza.
In a letter on Wednesday, Guterres said: "I urge the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. I reiterate my appeal for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared. This is urgent."
More than 75 journalists have been killed and 140 wounded in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7.
At least 17,487 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,480 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
The Israeli death toll from the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, according to official figures.