The presentation, which took place in the Jubilee Hall of the Parliament, was attended by Turkey’s Ambassador to London Osman Koray Ertaş, AA Chairman and Director General Serdar Karagöz, Member of the House of Lords Qurban Hussain, Labor Party MP Khalid Mahmood and Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Regional Director Aya. Majzoub and many guests attended.
Speaking at the launch of the Evidence documentary, Ambassador Ertaş stated that AA has become a global power in the field of news as one of Turkey’s most powerful brands.
Thanking AA General Manager Karagöz for the work done by AA reporters all over the world, Ertaş said that the documentary is a powerful work that tells about what happened in Gaza.
Ertaş said, “The pain in the occupied Palestinian territories has been going on for 200 days. The response to October 7 has led to the biggest man-made crisis we have seen in modern times in Gaza. An unprecedented destruction is happening before our eyes. The majority of the casualties are women and children.” “A generation is disappearing,” he said.
Explaining that hunger and unsupplied water, electricity and fuel also cause deaths, Ertaş said, “The average daily death toll in Gaza is higher than all other conflicts in the 21st century. In addition, illegal Jewish settler violence in the West Bank has continued since October 7.” “It has been increasing ever since,” he said.
Ertaş also pointed out that the international community has not been able to stop the bloodshed for more than 200 days and pointed out that an immediate and permanent ceasefire is the most important way to stop this bloodshed and lead to a permanent solution.
Stating that Turkey is one of the leading countries in humanitarian aid to Gaza, Ertaş said that 45 thousand tons of aid were shipped to the region and more than 900 people were transferred for treatment.
Ertaş also emphasized the importance of the two-state solution, with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, for lasting peace, and said that those responsible should be brought to justice and belief in the rules-based order should be strengthened.
“No country is untouchable.” Ertaş stated that international law applies to everyone.
Thanking AA for the Evidence documentary, Ertaş also expressed his gratitude to all AA employees who reported on the events in Gaza.
“140 journalists were killed while working in Gaza in the past 6 months.”
AA Chairman and General Manager Karagöz stated that the events in Gaza since October 7 have made international headlines and attracted everyone’s attention, and that the international community has been divided into two groups: pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli.
“I am not a politician. I am not a judge or a legal expert. “I am a journalist.” Karagöz said that he did not come to London with a political agenda and that he was on the side of the truth.
Karagöz said, “I came here today to fulfill my responsibilities towards my honorable profession, journalism.”
Karagöz said that journalists are the soul of the society and that his soul was restless while watching what happened to the people of Gaza and said:
“More than 35 thousand Palestinians have been killed as a direct result of the Israeli army’s attacks. 24 thousand of these deaths are women and children. Despite dangerous conditions, brave journalists continue to work under the fog of war to convey the truth to a global audience. “In the past 6 months, 200 humanitarian aid workers and 140 journalists have been killed while on duty in Gaza.”
Karagöz stated that one of the journalists killed in Gaza was Muntasir al-Savvaf, AA’s cameraman working in Gaza, and said: “For many people, he will be just a statistic. For me, Muntasır is a hero. “He made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the truth and tell untold stories.”
Pointing out that AA compiled thousands of hours of journalism in the documentary called “Evidence”, Karagöz stated that every crime leaves evidence behind and that evidence is necessary for prosecution.
Karagöz pointed out that there have been many accusations from the international community recently that the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza, and emphasized that the word genocide is a legal term.
Pointing out that the Genocide Convention defines this term as “acts committed with the aim of destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”, Karagöz said:
“So is there a crime of genocide in Gaza? As I stated before, I am not a legal expert and am not qualified to make this decision. But as a journalist, I am ready to present the facts to legal experts.”
AA’s “Evidence” book was used as evidence of genocide at the ICJ
Karagöz explained that, as AA, they have been closely following the events in Gaza, Israel and all over the region since October 7, 2023 and have prepared a book called “Evidence”.
Emphasizing that the book was prepared to inform the international community about the facts and to leave a historical record for future generations, Karagöz said, “The images in this book were used as evidence of genocide in the case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.” said.
Karagöz stated that the documentary “Evidence” was completed in 2.5 months and was shot in Lebanon, Israel, Italy, the USA and England, and underlined that all the Gaza footage in the documentary was shot by the agency’s own staff.
Stating that many world-renowned experts and representatives of international organizations contributed to the documentary, Karagöz said, “International human rights organizations and institutions such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations and Situ Studios are the most prominent contributors.” he said.
Karagöz congratulated the documentary’s director Atakan Kerküklü and Chief Producer Abdulkadir Karakelle for their tremendous efforts in creating this meaningful work and said:
“I would also like to thank MP Tahir Ali for hosting us in the parliament and Turkey’s Ambassador to London Osman Koray Ertaş for helping organize this event. As Anadolu Agency, we will continue to fulfill our duty to express the truth. Even if this fact is inconvenient for some. I believe that sooner or later everyone will watch this documentary because this documentary, based on facts and truth, will sooner or later ensure international justice.”
AA photos documented the use of white phosphorus bombs
In his speech, Majzoub thanked AA for its reporting in southern Lebanon and Gaza, and said that human rights organizations benefit from the press while documenting war crimes and other violations.
Noting that AA Photojournalist Mustafa Haruf’s photographs of the ammunition used by Israel are important in proving the use of white phosphorus gas, Majzoub said, “Those photographs played a key role in preparing our study on the Israeli army’s use of white phosphorus bombs in settlements in Gaza.” said.
Majzoub explained that they benefited from the work of journalists while preparing the report on Israel’s attack in southern Lebanon, in which a Reuters employee died and six others were injured, and said, “As a result of our analysis with this evidence, we concluded that the attack was a direct attack against civilians and should be treated as a war crime.” We arrived.” he said.
Underlining that Israel’s attacks on journalists make it difficult to obtain evidence of war crimes, Majzoub emphasized that AA’s work enabled obtaining a large amount of evidence revealing the brutality of the war.
