Are Arabs dying, but Houthis are not?

Television news constantly broadcasts footage of Houthi missile attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia: 

“Houthis hit Riyadh Airport once again” (AHaber), “Houthis: We targeted Saudi airspace” (NTV), “Houthis are striking Saudi Arabia” (Habertürk), “Most violent attack on Saudi Arabia: 19 dead” (Sözcü TV), “Airports are being hit one by one” (Haber Global).

Similar reports appear in newspapers. In addition to the airstrikes, the Anadolu Agency also reports that “3 children lost their lives in an attack carried out by the Houthis in Yemen's Taiz city using a UAV.” Thus, a perception is constantly created that Saudi Arabia is in danger and that the Houthis are raining missiles down on it. As if it were a one-sided war…

There is no mention at all of what is happening to the Houthis, who are fighting not only the central government in Yemen but also Saudi Arabia. Yet, for days and weeks, Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani planes assisting them have been raining tons of bombs on the Houthis. The civilians killed by those bombs do not make it into the news in the Turkish media. For example, the media did not include the announcement that six civilians from the same family, four of them children, were killed and four civilians were injured in a Saudi Arabian airstrike targeting the Hajj and Taiz provinces on October 6. 

Moreover, the real catastrophe is not in Arabia, but in Yemen. A major humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in the country. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that 18.3 million people are facing acute food insecurity due to the conflict, and approximately 2.2 million children under the age of 5 are facing malnutrition. These reports also receive no attention in the media and are not mentioned.

Yet, just a few years ago, all pro-government media, led by Anadolu Agency and TRT Haber, were reporting in the exact opposite direction. Let me remind you of the pro-government media's recent past stance by quoting from the examples provided by Cypriot journalist Sabahattin İsmail on social media:

“Saudi coalition responsible for half of child deaths in Yemen” (August 18, 2017 / AA), “Arab coalition's Yemen strategy is 'starvation'” (January 28, 2018 / AA), “Coalition forces in Yemen targeted a vehicle carrying children” (August 9, 2018 / TRT Haber), “Bus full of children hit in Saudi airstrike in Yemen” (August 10, 2018 / Hürriyet), “UN: 400 thousand children in Yemen face risk of starvation” (February 12, 2021 / TRT Haber), “The most disastrous human tragedy: Yemen is dying” (November 9, 2018 / Yeni Şafak)”

A journalist is the non-combatant party in wars and focuses on the suffering of both sides. A journalist does not change their stance according to the position of the political power. However, a portion of the opposition media is neglecting the humanitarian catastrophe brought to Yemen by the war due to professional shortcomings and equipment issues. The pro-government media, on the other hand, is in an effort to adapt to the political power's policy change that began with the “Mecca agreement.” Journalism is failing this test in this war.

Ships hit in the Black Sea and the media

One of two ships targeted by three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) off the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria sank, six sailors were rescued, and 11 went missing. The previous week, three ships were attacked, and 10 sailors on the Turkish-owned, Togo-flagged ship named “Alfa Watan” could not be saved.

Unfortunately, these attacks did not attract the attention of the media either. Yet, attacks on commercial ships are increasing. The toll of commercial ships attacked and sunk by UAVs and SİHAs used in the Ukraine-Russia war is also terrifying. In the first eight months of 2026 alone, the number of ships hit has exceeded 163. Approximately 64 percent of the attacks were reportedly from Russia, and 32 percent from Ukraine. According to the Aydınlık newspaper, 52 of the 73 commercial ships attacked since January are linked to Turkey. 

According to what Aydın Sezer conveyed, the Turkish Shipowners' Association (TAB) and the Chamber of Shipping (İMEAK DTO) have determined that over 200 commercial ships have been hit or damaged in the Black Sea, Kerch Strait, and Sea of Azov from the beginning of the conflict until the autumn of 2026. 

The number of sailors who lost their lives in these attacks as of October 2026 has exceeded 70. It is unknown how many of those who died or were injured are from Turkey. This is because most Turkish-owned ships operating in the war zone carry the flags of other countries, such as Togo. As a result, reliable information about the ship's personnel cannot be obtained. International insurers are not wrong to consider the Black Sea a “war zone.”

Furthermore, those working on these foreign-flagged ships cannot be registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK) from Turkey. Shipowners hire them by saying, “We will pay extra war compensation”; they do not employ sailors who refuse to go to the region due to the danger of death on other ships.

Just as people are left to their own devices, initiatives regarding navigation safety in the Black Sea have not yet yielded results. The Directorate of Communications announced that this issue was also on the agenda during President Erdoğan's meeting with Russian President Putin on October 7. A tripartite meeting was held in Bulgaria with the participation of Romania and Turkey, but there was no statement on this matter in Turkey.

Bulgaria summoned the Russian Ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and issued a warning after two ships were attacked in its territorial waters on October 13. But there is no such initiative in Turkey. Neither the pro-government media nor the opposition media are interested enough in these attacks. As a result, these dangerous developments in the Black Sea cannot be moved to the top of the agenda in Turkey. Neither the sinking ships and the measures to be taken are monitored, nor are the life stories of the sailors who died or were injured conveyed. 

It is sad that the media remains indifferent to a war happening so close to us, which directly affects people and even the economy, instead of informing the public and warning the administrators.

The audience reacted to the trustee

Halk TV was the number one news channel last month. Its average daily rating had surpassed TRT Haber, CNN Türk, A Haber, as well as Sözcü TV.

On the day a trustee was appointed to the most-watched news channel, the audience reacted instantly and turned to two opposition channels. Sözcü TV finished October 14 as the clear leader in the AB group with a 4.64 rating throughout the day. Koza TV's rating, which was 0.17 the day before, rose to 0.78 in one day.

Because these two channels reported in detail on the police raid on Halk TV and its aftermath. Pro-government channels ignored the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV all day long. In the evening, relying on the prosecutor's office's statement, they tried to justify the appointment of the trustee by reporting the accusations against Cafer Mahiroğlu. However, Cafer Mahiroğlu has not been tried and convicted. Moreover, even if he were, his situation cannot be a justification for seizing Halk TV.

Channels like 24 TV and Habertürk were also trying to clarify the answer to US President Trump's question, “Do you want Turkey to participate in the turmoil in Yemen?”: “I could. I think President Erdoğan will fulfill my request.”

It was Halk TV's US Representative Serra Karaçam who asked Trump that question, which unsettled the pro-government media. Halk TV had also broadcast this question and answer before it was seized.

A day later, Bahadır Özgür, who reported on the “29-person correction” in the list of 141 people whose assets were seized in the “fund fraud,” was detained at Halk TV. The reason was “violating the confidentiality of the investigation.” Then, when Murat Ağırel, who was already under house arrest, was detained, the reason this time was that he was researching a story he had not yet written.

RTÜK did not remain silent, of course. It immediately punished Sözcü TV and Koza TV, whose viewership rates were increasing, due to their “fund fraud” broadcasts. 

It is very clear that the reason for this heavy siege is to prevent independent and critical journalists from informing the public and to ensure that the media practices entirely controlled journalism.

Indeed, İbrahim Paşalı, who continued Habertürk's broadcast as it was when he was appointed as trustee, stopped Halk TV's news broadcast as his first act, just as he did at Tele1.

So what happened? People immediately turned their faces to other channels instead. News is like water; it will definitely find a channel to flow through... If you put obstacles in front of it, one day it will become a flood and flow…

The fight caused by the “Yahya Sinwar photo”

I noticed the fight over the Yahya Sinwar photo among journalists close to the AKP from İsmail Kılıçarslan's article in Yeni Şafak:

“Yahya Sinwar. Our martyr who is our pride. A pro-Israel Algerian Zionist living in France and an Egyptian Zionist who is also pro-Israel and living in the West circulated a photo made with artificial intelligence showing Yahya Sinwar eating at a restaurant in Tel Aviv.

Unfortunately, this photo entered circulation in Turkey through the hands of Akşam newspaper columnist Yusuf Alabarda. Alabarda called the photo 'Real' in a tweet where he could not express himself correctly.”

I looked at social media. It turns out that Yusuf Alabarda, who shared that photo on October 11, had been attacked, and a big fight had broken out. Some argued that the person in the photo was not Yahya Sinwar, and others argued that the photo was a product of artificial intelligence. 

And they were not approaching Yusuf Alabarda as cool-headedly as İsmail Kılıçarslan and asking him to “clear up the misunderstanding.” Fatih Tezcan was calling him a “fool,” Özlem Doğan was saying “These people are now suspicious in my eyes,” and Taha Ün was saying “You are incompetent.” Yusuf Alabarda, on the other hand, was only responding to Taha Ün by saying “Davutoğlu's feeder,” and denying the accusation. I also looked at the post by Yusuf Alabarda that caused the fight; he had written the following over the photo:

“The photo is real. Tel Aviv Humms Restaurant. God creates people in pairs from the same image... Thinking otherwise keeps you awake at night.”

As can be seen, in the post that was reacted to, Yusuf Alabarda does not say that the person in the photo is Yahya Sinwar; he emphasizes the resemblance of that person to Yahya Sinwar by saying “God creates people in pairs from the same image.” That's all. That was what he meant when he said “The photo is real.” 

Although it is known that Yusuf Alabarda is a name who respects Yahya Sinwar, I think being attacked so severely without understanding or listening reflects the tension in those circles. And also that even those who have a different approach cannot be tolerated…

In a single sentence:

• Ministry of Trade Press Advisor Bekir Kaplan did not give the name of the restaurant in Ankara in his statement that “a fine of 135 thousand TL was given to a restaurant that charged one thousand liras for 4 portions of cacık”; BirGün, CNNTürk, NTV, and Sabah also reported the news without adding the name of the restaurant. Show TV also did not mention the name of the restaurant, even though it interviewed the restaurant owner. 

• Yıldız Holding took Fazlı Şahan from Yeni Şafak and Akif Bülbül from Türkiye on a trip to London; they wrote news stories like “England's biscuit leader…” 

• In Hürriyet's report on “Lock on tap water in Tokat,” there was no mention that the Mayor of Tokat was from the MHP; Sabah did not report on this issue at all. 

• Yeni Şafak published the promotional text of the AKP-run Bursa and Ümraniye municipalities as news without adding a “This is an advertisement” warning.

• NTV engaged in clickbait by dramatizing the death of a child with the headline “Died after being electrocuted in a flood: The painful detail in the story of 14-year-old Mahmut,” without considering the “best interests of the child.”

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