Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attended the panel titled "Women Witnesses to Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza," organised by our Directorate.
Emine Erdoğan was greeted by Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and Presidency's Head of Communications Burhanettin Duran when she arrived at the Directorate of Communications. She then took a tour of the area that included photos of journalists killed in Israel's attacks on Gaza.
Speaking at the event, Emine Erdoğan expressed gratitude to the Directorate of Communications for organising such a meaningful programme.
Emine Erdoğan expressed pleasure in hosting Palestinian director Basel Adra, along with highly respected Palestinian journalists and reporters, adding:
"Dear Brother: First and foremost, know this: here in Türkiye, you are not in a foreign land—you are at home. You are not a visitor here; you are with your family. Your documentary "No Other Land" has won awards at numerous film festivals, including the Oscars and Berlin. But you also hold a far greater prize. That is, going down in history as a warrior of truth! The suffering that words cannot express, such as the Palestinian Cause and the noble Palestinian people's struggle for resistance, has been portrayed in your documentary For two years, in live broadcasts watched by the whole world, you have conveyed to the international community that the genocide is not new and not limited to Gaza, but has been ongoing for nearly a century on every inch of Palestinian land. I am also aware of the challenges you faced on this journey. I wholeheartedly commend and applaud you and your team for your perseverance and bravery."
Emine Erdoğan stated that they were there to remember and discuss what they had witnessed, adding that remembering is the greatest resistance.
Emine Erdoğan noted that Israel has killed about 300 journalists in just two years and that of these individuals, 37 were women.
She recites Fatiha for the souls of all those martyred in Palestine
Emine Erdoğan noted her wish to begin her remarks by commemorating one of these 37 brave women, Salma Mukhaimer, and added:
"She was a journalist, a woman, and a mother who spent her entire 31-year life under the shadow of Israeli bombardments and inhumane embargoes. She returned to Gaza in 2023 to see her family after three years apart and to introduce her one-year-old son, Ali, to them. Their home was entirely destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, and her son Ali, as well as her mother, father, and four siblings, were brutally murdered. In her final post on social media, Selma wrote: 'If we disappear and no one hears from us, prayer will keep us together.' Now, let us honour her wish and recite a Fatiha for the souls of all our martyred brothers and sisters in Palestine."
Emine Erdoğan recited Fatiha for the souls of all those martyred in Palestine, expressing that there are instances when sadness and sorrow are so profound that, when enquired about one's well-being, the only response is: “Where shall I begin?” and added:
"Talking about Palestine is a cause of such sorrow. Where shall we begin? With the Zionists—disgrace of humanity—who celebrate the killing of children? With the bombing of tents so fragile that a mere breath could scatter them? With the children who cannot sleep without their mothers and therefore curl up at night upon their graves? With the days spent with hunger and thirst? With the long roads where emaciated children walk barefoot carrying flour sacks heavier than themselves, while death roams everywhere? With the way Palestinians, certain they will die, ask each other for forgiveness every time their eyes meet? And with how they do this with that dignified smile unique to Palestinians? Or with their cries—having witnessed countless times the burial of identity-less, grave-less bodies lost in the dust and rubble—when they say, 'I want to be buried with my dignity!'?
Emine Erdoğan, who was moved while giving voice to these words, stated, "For more than 70 years, Israeli oppression has shown that every evil once thought 'impossible for anyone to dare' can indeed be dared and that every boundary once thought 'uncrossable' can indeed be crossed. That is why they fear pens, cameras, and microphones the most."
Emine Erdoğan noted that Israel wants to block every path through which truth reaches people, and added:
"They put the truth itself under siege. Instead of protecting members of the press, they blatantly violate international law and norms, targeting them in particular. Imagine that the Israeli army bombed the homes of Palestinian journalists to intimidate them— destroying them along with their families and neighbours. Even in hospital courtyards, which should be the safest places, they killed journalists with drones. Those they could not kill, they left to die in prisons—factories of cruelty unlike anything history has seen. Israel implemented a systematic field-execution policy to prevent the truth from reaching the world. Not satisfied with that, they labelled the journalists they killed as 'terrorists' to justify the murders. They shut down the offices of national media outlets, such as Al Jazeera, calling them a 'national threat'."
"By distorting information, massacres can easily be legitimised"
Emine Erdoğan stated that all these examples reveal a new reality, and said:
"That information itself can be transformed into violence. By hiding, distorting, and turning information into disinformation, massacres can easily be legitimised. Some mainstream Western media organisations, which hold immense power over information, silence the voices they choose to be ignored and amplify the ones they want to be heard. For example, didn't we all see how they spread the lie that Palestinians were 'using dolls for propaganda' when images of children killed in bombings were shown? A Western media organisation even published the photo of murdered Palestinian children under the headline 'Israeli babies were killed.' Through Israel and the media outlets complicit in its information violence, global public opinion has been manipulated time and time again. Tragically, in many parts of the world, there were those who believed these lies and applauded genocide. Now we know that universal values such as democracy and human rights become nothing more than empty slogans when applied to the marginalised."
Pointing out that this reality places a tremendous responsibility on everyone in the hall, Emine Erdoğan said, “That is to conduct a much stronger communication strategy than ever before. And to raise the voice of truth across all continents of the world, leaving not a single language in which reality remains untranslated. For, I say with great sorrow that our martyred Palestinian brothers and sisters bid farewell to life—and to humanity—with a heart full of hurt. Thus, to wage war against unfairness, lies, injustice, discrimination, genocide, and every form of evil is our most legitimate struggle!"
“These heroes held up a mirror to the truth through the eyes of women"
Emine Erdoğan emphasised that the 37 women journalists they commemorate today sometimes rushed to conflict zones pregnant with a child, sometimes by entrusting their child to someone else's care, and continued as follows:
"These brave women faced death because they witnessed newborns—babies still attached to life by an uncut umbilical cord—killed in airstrikes alongside their mothers. They wanted the lives of the babies not to be as fleeting as those of butterflies. Thus, they revealed truths about the anatomy of lies that no one else knew. To prove the verse, 'Palestine she was and still is!', they defied the oppressor through their reporting. Those heroines, whose stories intertwined with the story of Gaza while they were documenting the grave crimes committed against humanity, held up a mirror to the truth through the eyes of women. Just like journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa. She too lost her life last August while filming the news at a hospital, in an immoral Israeli attack. “My camera is my duty, not profession,” Mariam used to say. In a letter she wrote to her son before her death, she said: ‘I did everything I could so that you may be happy, good, and safe.’ I personally believe that all these struggles these brave women waged on the edge of death had one sole purpose: That the children of Palestine may become the springtime of Palestine…"
Emine Erdoğan reminded that more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza over the past two years and noted that even since the ceasefire came into effect, nearly 400 more people have lost their lives.
Emine Erdoğan stated that one of them was 28-year-old journalist Saleh Aljafarawi and continued:
"He was a beloved figure to us all, through his reports, videos, and, above all, the hope that blossomed on his face throughout the more than 700 days of genocide. What remains of him, sadly, are his press vest, once believed to be bulletproof, and a video in which he left heartfelt messages to his family as his testament. In November alone, there were 57 violations and attacks against Palestinian journalists. We know that Israel aims not only to destroy Palestinians but also the entire memory of Palestine. Alongside genocide, it commits ecocide, rendering the land uninhabitable. By destroying historical and cultural heritage, it attempts to eradicate national identity. They erase the historical footprints of Palestinians so that one day they could say, 'You never existed here at all!' We will, of course, never allow this. We will keep Salmas, Mariams, Salehs, and many others alive in our hearts and our prayers. With the broken branches of one million olive trees destroyed in Gaza, we will graft life and make it flourish anew! It is often said, 'And those beautiful people mounted their beautiful horses and rode away.' But we have seen those beautiful people return on ships from where they had gone, arriving in Gaza, where the conscience of humanity called them. That is why I am convinced that as long as we continue to reflect the light of truth, the darkness that has fallen upon Gaza today will, inshallah, through humanity’s collective resistance, become light once more.
The programme also featured the presentation of the book “Murdering the Truth: Israel’s Campaign Against Journalism”, prepared by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications to document the attacks and massacres targeting members of the press in Gaza over the past two years. The event was attended by AK Party Women’s Branch Chair Tuğba Işık Ercan; Anadolu Agency (AA) Chairman of the Board and Director General Serdar Karagöz; TRT Director General Mehmet Zahid Sobacı; Press Advertisement Agency General Manager Abdulkadir Çay; AA Deputy Director General Oğuz Enis Peru; journalist and director of the documentary “No Other Land” Basel Adra; journalist Somaya Abunima; as well as national and international media representatives, including Palestinian journalists, and several members of parliament.
Following the speeches, the panel proceeded with the sessions titled “Voices Defying Global Silence: The Resistance of Women Journalists in Gaza” and “Media Repression: Truth Under Siege in Gaza”.
In addition, First Lady Emine Erdoğan shared a post on her NSocial account regarding the "Women Witnesses to Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza" panel.
In her post, Emine Erdoğan expressed:
We came together for Palestine at the ‘Women Witnesses to Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza’ panel, organised under the auspices of the Directorate of Communications.
We are happy to host Palestinian director Basel Adra, along with highly respected Palestinian journalists and reporters, on the occasion of this meaningful programme.
Israel has killed about 300 journalists in just two years. Of these individuals, 37 were women.
Those heroines, whose stories intertwined with the story of Gaza while they were documenting the grave crimes committed against humanity, held up a mirror to the truth through the eyes of women.
With their reporting, they defied the oppressor so that the children of Palestine may become the springtime of Palestine.
We bear witness to each of their acts of resistance, and we will be the strongest defenders of the cause for which they gave their lives.
Our shared responsibility is to raise the voice of truth across all continents of the world, leaving not a single language in which reality remains untranslated.
For to wage war against unfairness, lies, injustice, discrimination, genocide, and every form of evil is our most legitimate struggle!
I am convinced that as long as we continue to reflect the light of truth, the darkness that has fallen upon Gaza today will, through humanity’s collective resistance, become light once more.
I commemorate all our brothers and sisters martyred in Palestine with mercy.”
