Türkiye will not stop talking about the lengthy record of Israel’s crimes, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Monday as the latter continues indiscriminately bombarding the Gaza Strip in its relentless retaliation to a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
“Israel’s occupation of Gaza will eventually end. But Türkiye will not forget what happened today,” said Altun, speaking to the digital news platform Fokusplus.
“We will bring Israel’s atrocities, war crimes and genocide to the world community’s attention whenever possible and we will not stop talking about Israel’s lengthy criminal record,” he said, noting that the directorate has countered hundreds of fake news items Israel has tried to spread in the past five months.
Türkiye has been the voice of various oppressed regions, particularly Palestine and has supported their rightful causes, Altun continued.
Western media outlets do not refrain from resorting to disinformation regarding the region, particularly Türkiye, he pointed out.
“Attempting to undermine Türkiye’s might and achievements is, to say the least, a sign of weakness. The importance of helping the oppressed and speaking up for them cannot be overstated, just as the truth cannot be hidden,” Altun said.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 border attack led by Hamas, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.
More than 31,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed by Israel in Gaza and over 72,700 others have been 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.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population of over 2 million people into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 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.
During its war on Gaza, Israeli government disinformation has also intensified, with fake stories like the one about Hamas allegedly beheading babies that were also backed by the White House early on in the conflict, that was later proved to be false.
Stating that disinformation threatens global security and peace, Altun underlined that it has become essential to address the issue not only at the national level but also through international cooperation.
He said Israel has been using “disinformative content and fake information to justify the massacres” it has committed in Gaza since Oct. 7 and to win over international opinion.
“However, we withstood the deluge of lies disseminated by Israel. We exposed the fake news and false information it was circulating,” Altun said.
The directorate’s Palestine Special Disinformation Bulletins have so far exposed approximately 200 disinformation attempts by Israel, including its claims that Hamas fighters raped Israeli women, which have been broadly proven false.
“We shared the truth with the international community. All of Israel’s lies, which we exposed, were reflected in international public opinion and served as a reference for Israel’s trial process,” Altun said, adding several international media outlets that have been “acting under the influence of Israel and assumed the task of disseminating its lies have been compelled to reconsider their positions.”
In this process, Anadolu Agency (AA) and Turkish broadcaster TRT are also working hard to uncover the realities on the ground and bring them to the forefront of global public opinion, Altun stressed.
A file of evidence a group of Turkish legal experts brought up to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold Israel accountable for war crimes in Gaza also included a series of photographs taken by AA reporters on-site.
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