This is an excerpt from Turkey Briefing, Al-Monitor's weekly newsletter covering the big stories of the week in Turkey. To get Turkey Briefing in your inbox, sign up here.
A cameraman for the Turkish state broadcaster’s Arabic language service, TRT Arabi, had his leg amputated after his team’s vehicle was targeted in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, the channel said Friday. TRT director general Zahid Sobaci in a post on X called Israel “a murderer” that's exhibited “no moral scruples” over the plight of the cameraman, Sami Shahaadeh. Another TRT correspondent, Sami Berhum, was also injured by Israeli tank fire according to eyewitness accounts.
Fahrettin Altun, director of communications for the Turkish government, tweeted, “This is terror … Israel is targeting journalists so that its massacres won’t be revealed.” According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 95 journalists and media workers were among more than 30,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, when Hamas ignited the war, butchering over 1,200 Israelis in a single day. Around 90 of the journalists killed in the conflict were Palestinians.
Friday’s casualties came amid mounting tensions between Turkey and Israel. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ranks among Israel’s harshest critics over its conduct of the Gaza conflict, likening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. However, his critics have blasted him for not matching his words with actions. Turkey finally did so this week, announcing a list of 54 products that it will no longer export to Israel. The list includes cement, steel and iron, which account for the bulk of sales, sparking vows of retaliation from Israel.
