Not the same thing. Reporting speech by saying 'subject said (...) [past tense verb] (...)' is not specific to English and doesn't carry the same nuance as the tweet implies this Turkish 'gossip' tense carries.
Different languages convey nuance with different mechanics. The only reason an English speaker would say "He said he would be at the airport" is to convey nuance.
+ He said he would be at the airport
+ He said he would be at the airport
+ He said he would be at the airport
+ He said he would be at the airport
Fair enough, but the interesting tidbit is that in Turkish you can add a verb ending that implies reportedness and that's interesting in itself and not present in English.
Also, it's not optional. Unless you use "gossip tense" or explicitly state that it's hearsay, it must be factual. There's no ambiguity unlike English.
Verb tense is distinct from conjugation (and semantics are a whole different matter altogether). Careful consideration doesnt make trending tweets.
No, you are misunderstanding if you think that is a "gossip tense".