CHANGES TITLE, SPOT, LEDE; UPDATES WITH MORE CONDEMNATIONS
By Mustafa Deveci, Ayse Sumeyra Aydogdu and Erdogan Cagatay Zontur
JERUSALEM (AA) – Turkish officials condemned Israeli warplanes hitting the building on Saturday where Anadolu Agency’s office is located.
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a phone call to Anadolu Agency’s Director General Senol Kazanci and wished for quick recovery.</p> <p>“Targeting of @AnadoluAgency #Gaza office is new example of Israel’s unrestrained aggression,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter and added: “#Israeli violence against innocent people w/out distinction is a crime against humanity. Those who encourage Israel are also guilty. </p> <p>“Will keep defending #Palestinian cause, even if alone.”</p> <p>“We strongly condemn Israeli attack on Anadolu Agency office in Gaza that intends to cover up its new crimes,” Turkey's Presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin said on twitter.</p> <p>“We condemn Israel in the strongest possible terms for targeting a building in the West Bank, in which the @anadoluagency office was located,” Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also said on Twitter.</p> <p>“We urge all governments that claim to defend press freedom, including @USEmbassyTurkey, to join us in condemning the Israeli government,” Altun added.</p> <p>“Israel's hitting Anadolu Agency's office [in Gaza] is an attempt to get rid of the witnesses, a preparation of massacres in Gaza,” Palestinian government said in a statement.</p> <p>Turkish Technology and Industry Minister Mustafa Varank, Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan and AK Party's acting chairman Numan Kurtulmus also gave a phone call to Kazanci and wished for quick recovery.</p> <p>International Media Information Association (UMED), a Turkey-based agency, also condemned the attack and said: “We expect the international community to adopt a common attitude towards Israel which does not hesitate to target even journalists who are under the rule of international law and do their duty.”</p> <p>Israeli warplanes hit the building with at least 5 rockets after warning shots, Anadolu Agency’s correspondent in Jerusalem reported.</p> <p>No injuries or death were reported.</p> <p>The strikes occurred following reports that two Israeli soldiers had been injured by gunfire near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone on Friday.</p> <p>At least two Palestinians were killed when Israeli warplanes struck Hamas positions in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
