President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers held under the theme "The Israeli Occupying Authority’s Disinformation and Hostilities against Journalists and Media Outlets in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Extending a "welcome" to the participants of the session from all over the Islamic world, President Erdoğan said, "I hope that your meeting will be auspicious for the entire press community, especially the members of the media striving to carry out their professional duties in the occupied Palestinian territories."
Underscoring that a major atrocity has been unfolding in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory since October 7, President Erdoğan noted:
"The Israeli government, with the unwavering support of Western powers, is mercilessly slaughtering Gazans who are crammed into a small plot of land. So far, more than 30 thousand of our Palestinian brothers and sisters have been brutally martyred, and over 70 thousand have been injured. The overwhelming majority of Gazans massacred by Israel are children, women and the elderly. Israeli occupation forces target not only innocent civilians but also members of the press who strive to inform the world about the facts on the ground. Israel has murdered more than 100 journalists in order to stifle the free press.
Stating that despite Israel's policies of intimidation, fear and silencing, journalists carry out their duty to the people of Gaza and the truth by taking all kinds of risks, President Erdoğan said, "I salute all brave journalists who speak up for all the oppressed in Palestine and wish Allah's mercy upon those who have passed away."
"Preventing Israel's disinformation efforts is among our most important tasks"
Emphasising that Israel has utilised its influence in global media outlets to simultaneously accelerate its disinformation activities, President Erdoğan continued his remarks:
"Israel employs every means available to cover up its war crimes and crimes against humanity, including distortion of facts and propaganda. The biased reporting of Western media sources has helped Israel's propaganda machine run. Given this outlook, one of our responsibilities as Islamic nations is to ensure that lies do not overshadow the truth.
One of our most important responsibilities is to document and publicise the atrocities committed against our Gazan brothers and sisters, as well as to combat Israel's disinformation efforts. I believe that the meeting titled 'Disinformation and Hostilities Against Journalists and Media Outlets in the Occupied Palestinian Territory' will be instrumental in achieving this."
Congratulating those who contributed to the organisation of the meeting, President Erdoğan said, "May Allah help and guide our Palestinian brothers and sisters."