The Presidency's Director of Communications Altun shared a post on his social media account and said, "While pursuing indimidation and terror tactics against civilians, some Israeli officials dare criticise Türkiye about our principled stance on Gaza. We will not be lectured by anyone about what constitutes terrorism."
In his post, Director of Communications Altun expressed his condolences to Al Jazeera reporter Wael Al-Dahdouh, who lost his family and home during the Israeli attacks.
Wael Al-Dahdouh's home was destroyed in yet another heinous attack against journalists, said Director of Communications Altun, adding that they find it difficult to believe that this was random.
Director of Communications Altun stated that Israel has been trying to stop the truth from coming out of Gaza, and added, "These kinds of attacks amount to employing terror tactics against journalists to silence them.
While pursuing indimidation and terror tactics against civilians, some Israeli officials dare criticise Türkiye about our principled stance on Gaza. We will not be lectured by anyone about what constitutes terrorism."
"Besieging millions of civilians in this manner is inhumane"
Recalling that Türkiye has been fighting terror groups like the PKK and DAESH for a long time, Director of Communications Altun noted:
"We are well aware of what constitutes terrorism. However, nothing justifies the intentional and systematic targeting of civilians. The whole world has seen not only the October 7 attack against Israeli cities but also Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza that have killed more than 6,000 civilians so far. Besieging millions of civilians with no humanitarian aid allowed is inhumane and barbaric. We advise the Israeli government to come to its senses about the crimes they have been committing on a daily basis. It needs to come to terms with the fact that the source of the conflict is the ongoing occupation. It is no longer possible for Israel to shape international public opinion while the whole world is witnessing the massacres and horrors in Gaza.
PR campaigns cannot cover up the brutality of killing civilians with no regard to international law. Attacking our President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is of no use to Israel. President Erdoğan has always called for de-escalation and peace in times of conflict. He has never shied away from calling out those who see themselves justified in targeting innocent civilians based on flimsy excuses. Once again, we call for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to exchange prisoners. International humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza. The events of the past two weeks have shown that the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is the source of the problem, and it can no longer be ignored. The international community must discourage Israel from its current approach and press for a final resolution of the conflict through a two-state solution."