By Barçın Yinanç
“Turkish newspapers should do more than the Washington Post,” wrote Fatih Selek in pro-government daily Türkiye, recalling that the American newspaper published the names of nearly 20,000 children murdered in Gaza.
“He is right,” wrote Faruk Bildirici, the ombudsman of several media outlets, including T24. “In Turkey as well, media outlets and journalism organizations should be able to carry out creative actions,” he added.
Joint actions of the kind proposed by Selek require the end of polarization in Turkey, according to Bildirici. When NGOs like the Turkish Journalists’ Association and Reporters Without Borders held a demonstration on July 29 in front of the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul to show support for Palestinian journalists, only a few media outlets covered the demonstration, while pro-government media preferred to ignore it.
By contrast, on Aug. 9, hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered in Istanbul’s Beyazıt Square upon the call of Bilal Erdoğan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It would be a fair guess to assume that the protestors were AKP supporters, as secular segments that oppose AKP rule must have stayed away from it.
Although the ruling coalition has been vocally very critical of Israel, it is still accused of not doing enough. That’s why some pro-government journalists felt the need to come to the Turkish president’s defense, claiming there is not much to do for Gaza.
“Can nothing be done for Gaza? Can’t we take one step further? We fully understand the anger, the sense of helplessness, the reactions born out of despair, the feeling of ‘enough is enough!’—but let’s face reality: this is it. This is all. This is all that can be done,” Aydın Ünal wrote in the daily Yeni Şafak.
Accusing President Erdoğan of inaction regarding Palestine would be an act of ingratitude, he wrote.
ANKARA’S HEADACHE
While the country is entangled in numerous contentious debates, Israel's approval of a plan to take control of Gaza City has brought the problem back to the top of the agenda.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plans have yet again met with rhetorical reaction from Turkey.
“We categorically reject this plan. The plan in question is a new phase of Israel's expansionist and genocidal policy,” said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
“We will not allow Netanyahu and his gang of butchers to push the region into deeper disaster just to secure their political survival,” said President Erdoğan, falling short of saying how Turkey intended to do so.
Turkey’s responses have been limited to rhetorical statements, as it exhausted its diplomatic options against Israel too quickly. The Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv was called back for consultations on November 4, 2023 and never returned. In April 2024, Turkey initially imposed export limits on key goods like metals, construction materials, fuels, and machinery.
Yet the government succumbed to criticism and only a month later, on May 2, halted all bilateral trade with Israel, exhausting yet another action against the Netanyahu government.
As trade figures with Palestine skyrocketed, there are suspicions that trade with Israel continues via indirect channels.
STAYING MUM TO AZERBAIJAN
Ironically, pro-government journalists assert that Erdoğan and Fidan are being targeted by the opposition not due to any perceived inaction on Gaza, but precisely because they are actively championing the Palestinian cause.
“They are not just raising their voices—they are actively mobilizing international institutions. They are engaging in diplomacy at the level of heads of state and foreign ministers, striving to raise awareness about Israel’s massacre in Gaza. Even this alone is enough to make them targets,” wrote Abdülkadir Selvi.
Engaging at the level of heads of state and foreign ministers appears not to encompass Azerbaijan, as it maintains strategic relations with Israel. Either Erdoğan has been unsuccessful in persuading Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to reconsider this alliance, or he has opted not to exert pressure on a key regional partner.
“There is just one issue that we strongly disagree on and that’s Israel,” an advisor to Aliyev told his Western counterparts.
While signing a peace agreement with Armenia in the White House, Aliyev offered to sign a joint letter urging the Nobel Committee to award U.S. President Trump the Peace Prize—ignoring the fact that he greenlights Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani oil transits Turkey en route to Israel, and despite Turkey's trade embargo, shipments have reportedly continued.
Turkey recently joined the Bogota statement of the Hague Group, thereby committing to implement the measures that include preventing the provision or transfer of military fuel and dual-use items to Israel. It remains to be seen whether this will compel Ankara to stop Israeli-bound Azerbaijani oil transiting Turkey.
