Turkey’s media, combined with an online social media army that are supportive of Ankara’s far-right AKP party and its anti-Israel views, has led to growing anti-Israel incitement. While Turkey is not alone in slamming Israel for the recent conflict in Gaza, it has used its state media to produce the most anti-Israel media coverage in the region. Even compared to Iran’s media, that is often focused internally, Ankara’s media stands out in extreme anti-Israel views. Unlike Iran, where there is not an outpouring of online anti-Israel hate, Turkey has a huge social media presence, some of it linked to the ruling party.
For instance, Turkey’s TRT state-run television produces non-stop anti-Israel propaganda. On Friday it took a video put out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and claimed it was false and that TRT would show the “truth from Palestine.” Next TRT posted a video claiming Israel “pummels blockaded Gaza” and claimed that Israel killed children, showing bodies of children. It posted a meme mocking the Austrian Chancellor for flying an Israeli flag. In the meme, the state television channel showed the Israeli flag in Austria and then “people power” of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Austria who “free Palestine.” TRT denies that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and claimed that Austria was showing “solidarity with Tel Aviv.” The same Turkish media refers to “Al-Quds” as Jerusalem.
Every TRT clip has only anti-Israel messages and never has even the pretense of news or explanation. Another clip on Friday claimed to show Israeli “settlers” shooting at Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. There’s no pretense of investigation or journalism, where journalists might go interview people or police to see what happened. This may not be a surprise since Turkey is the world’s largest jailor of journalists and generally jails any journalist critical of the ruling AK Party.
Among the other TRT headlines on Friday was one that asked if “Zionism is at the root of violence spilling onto your feeds.” That was followed by a report on the “racist and settler colonial references in Zionism.” TRT hosted Hamas terrorist leader Khaled Meshaal for a discussion as well. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has backed Hamas terror in the past and hosted Hamas leaders. Turkey condemns “terrorism” but tends to claim that Armenians or Kurds are “terrorists” while welcoming Hamas. Even Iranian media does not give Hamas terrorists as much coverage and support as Turkish state media. To further incite against Israel TRT showed Israeli youth singing, claiming they were an “armed militia.” Turkey has more experience with armed militias, having recruited Syrians to fight in Libya and arming them. It’s media didn’t refer to them as armed militias, only unarmed Israelis.
The anti-Israel views have spilled onto social media. One Turkish woman said she stands with Palestine and hashtagged the post “Israel kills civilians.” Turkey accounts retweet images of clashes and violence in Israel with celebratory comments about freeing “Palestine.” One pro-Turkey Twitter account posted an image of Turkish forces after the 2018 invasion of Kurdish Afrin, after Turkey occupied Afrin and ethnically cleansed it of Kurds and Yazidis. The image. Was photoshopped to show Turkish soldiers in Jerusalem “liberating” the Dome of the Rock. Turkey’s religious leaders and Erdogan’s office have said they will liberate Jerusalem and vowed to go to Al-Aqsa after turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque last year.
In another tweet an anti-Israel social media user from Turkey posted a photo of an injured Kurdish boy who was badly hurt by Turkish shelling in 2019 near Serekaniye, and the user claimed it was a Palestinian child. This shows that pro-Erdogan media users in Turkey can’t have sympathy for Kurds bombed in Syria by Turkey, but will use images of them to push for sympathy for Palestinians.
Meanwhile Ankara’s Anadolu media is pushing the same anti-Israel pro-Erdogan propaganda. It present Turkey as leading efforts against Israel and claims Israel has killed “126 martyrs” in Gaza. Increasingly these state media adopt Islamist messaging and have no pretense at presenting Hamas terrorists as positive. Meshaal of Hamas is also quoted. Israelis are not quoted or given the same headlines as Hamas leaders. Neither is Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas.
In addition, on May 13, the Minister of Religious Affairs of Turkey, Dr Ali Arbash delivered a sermon dressed in black and holding a sword. Turkish media proudly showed the image, which looked more like an ISIS sermon than the kind of religious leadership of a member of NATO. The report said that the religious leader, sword in hand, was also “praying for the Aqsa Mosque.” This is similar to the rhetoric last year about Turkey “liberating” Al-Aqsa using a blend of religious zeal and a push for Turkish regional leadership. Turkey’s flirtation with Islamist extremists goes back many years. In 2014 Turkey was accused of not doing enough to close the border as ISIS members transited Turkey. ISIS leader Baghdadi was found by the US just a kilometer from the Turkish border and ISIS members fled Raqqa for Turkey. Ankara’s messaging has radicalized extremists in France who carried out terror attacks last year. Pro-Turkey demonstrators appear to be at the heart of some anti-Israel rallies in Germany and other European countries, including a rise in antisemitism.