Erdoğan slams Israel over journalist killings amid conflict

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has blasted Israel for the killing of journalists amid the conflict with Hamas, labeling the global response to these actions as a "severe failure."

In a video message delivered to an event organized by the presidency's Communications Directorate on Nov. 24, Erdoğan condemned Israel for "openly committing war crimes," including cutting off essential services such as electricity, water, fuel and food to Palestinians.

"In the face of this atrocity, international organizations and the global system are unfortunately giving a very bad test," he added, singling out the U.N. Security Council for criticism over its perceived dysfunctionality in dealing with the ongoing crisis.

"Children and women are not the only civilians deliberately targeted by Israel. It also kills journalists who try to announce the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza to the world, despite all the difficulties," the president said, arguing that over 60 correspondents were killed by Israel amid the conflict.

Most recently, an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Nov. 21 killed two journalists who were reporting for a Beirut-based TV station on military activity along the border with Israel, according to Lebanese officials and the broadcaster.

The Pan-Arab TV channel Al-Mayadeen, which is politically allied with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, identified the journalists killed in the town of Tair Harfa as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari.

The deaths bring the number of journalists who have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began last month to at least 50, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most were Palestinian journalists working in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon on Oct. 14 killed Reuters videojournalist Issam Abdallah and wounded other journalists from France’s international news agency, Agence France-Presse, and Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV.

Erdoğan also decried the "biased coverage" of international media outlets, accusing many of turning a blind eye to the crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"Another aspect of the Gaza crisis that has upset us as much as the deaths of children has been the biased coverage of international media outlets," Erdoğan remarked.

The president argued that Türkiye did not succumb to what he called Israel's "propaganda war aimed at destroying or distorting the truth."

Commending Turkish press members for their reporting on the ground, Erdoğan congratulated journalists "who defended the truth."

"The most critical issue that the recent critical developments, especially in Gaza, remind us of is the importance of strategic communication. We have seen and see together that wars, conflicts, attacks, and defenses are not only on the frontlines," Erdoğan said.

"We need to fight against the destructive effects of disinformation that corrupts democracy and targets individual rights and freedoms."

In a separate address at Istanbul Haliç Congress Center on Nov. 24, Erdoğan shifted focus to economic developments, stating that exports in the last 12 months reached $254.8 billion as of October.

"The increase in exports in terms of numbers is undoubtedly important, but what we, as Türkiye, should really focus on from now on is the increase in quality of exports," he said.

"We want to expand our success in drone production to missiles, ships, armored vehicles, cameras, air defense systems and electronic warfare systems."