By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL-Anadolu Publishers Federation (AYF), an umbrella organization of Turkish journalists with support from Turkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, commemorated and protested the killing of journalist colleagues in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. The AYF event that took place on Saturday, was held next to the historical German Fountain in Sultanahmet Square and continues through Sunday. It gathered a diverse group of journalists who spoke about journalist rights in conflict zones with prominent journalists speaking out on stage against Israeli brutality with the stage inscription: “We stand guard for the journalists killed in Palestine.” AYF chief, Sinan Burhan who spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) said: “140 of our journalists have been martyred or killed in Palestine. What were these journalists doing? They were the voice of the Palestinian people. They were exposing Israeli state terrorism to the world.” Altun, via phone, at the event, said: “Turkiye has always stood by the rightful cause of Palestine, consistently supporting innocent civilians and the innocent Palestinians. Here, there is an effort to obscure the truth, a systematic effort to conceal it, and those who resist this systematic effort are journalists on the ground, engaged in a rightful struggle.” Altun praised the courage of journalists, who he said, continue to “uphold the integrity of journalism, elevating its status in media history,” even under the most extreme duress. Altun added: “Indeed, Israel’s propaganda management closely resembles the fascist propaganda tactics they supposedly reference and demonize as backward.”
U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres had noted previously, that during Israel’s war on Hamas, the highest number of journalists, humanitarian employees and aid workers were killed in Gaza – more than in any other conflict, Guterres reiterated. Palestinian researcher and journalist, Muin Naim labeled what’s happening in Gaza as the “worst journalist massacre in history.” Naim said Israel is deliberately targeting journalists, commenting that even in World War I and II as well as Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, not as many journalists were killed. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), during the war between Russia and Ukraine that began two years ago, only a total of 17 journalists were killed compared to close to 200 in the six-month war between Israel and Hamas. News reports and eyewitnesses revealed that Israeli strikes not only killed journalists but targeted and killed their families as well.
Photo : AA
