Sputnik Radio Rüştü Arseven Speech

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Rüştü Arseven, while explaining the establishment process and fundamental motivations of the “Silence is Complicity” platform, stated that they started as a group of professionals from the IT sector. Arseven described the lack of a similar level of social reaction in Turkey to that seen in geographically distant countries like Australia or Brazil, despite Turkey’s deep historical and religious ties to Palestine, as a deficiency, and stated that the platform was established to address this awareness gap. The platform’s main goal is to create social awareness against human rights violations in Gaza and to emphasize that silence is actually complicity in oppression. In his speech, Arseven also touched upon the ineffectiveness of international institutions, arguing that the United Nations remains weak in humanitarian crises due to its current veto system and unjust power structure. He stated that not only political authorities but also the media, academia, and civil society have not taken sufficient responsibility in this process, and that the culture of impunity is fueled by this silence. According to Arseven, when top-down mechanisms fail, it is vital for individuals and civil initiatives to raise their voices from the bottom up. To illustrate the human dimension of the tragedy, Arseven recalled the Hind Rajab incident, describing how the car in which the six-year-old child was traveling with her family was riddled with hundreds of bullets, and how the little girl died after waiting for hours for help, as the most painful symbol of the tragedy. In this context, the platform proposes that January 29th, the date of Hind Rajab’s death, be recognized as a symbolic day to commemorate the genocide in Palestine and to ensure that what happened is not forgotten. Arseven emphasized that those who died are not merely statistical numbers, but each of them had a life and a family, and called on all sectors to share in this humanitarian responsibility.