Turkey has requested Interpol red notices for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and another Israeli national over the alleged attack on activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which was carrying aid to Gaza.
Akin Gurlek, Turkey’s justice minister, said on Friday that arrest warrants had been issued for Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch as part of a domestic criminal case concerning the interception of flotilla activists in international waters.
The Turkish Justice Ministry said the two are being prosecuted over allegations including crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated deprivation of liberty, intentional assault and battery, torture, destruction of property, aggravated looting and hijacking of transport vehicles.
The case follows the interception of GSF vessels by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean.
In April, Israeli forces intercepted 22 boats carrying aid to Gaza in international waters near the Greek island of Crete.
The following month, about 50 vessels departed Turkey for Gaza as part of the GSF. Israeli forces detained activists aboard the vessels in the Mediterranean before taking them to an Israeli prison and subsequently expelling them.
GSF organisers described the operation as “piracy”, arguing that the activists were seized unlawfully more than 965km (600 miles) from Gaza, which remains under an Israeli naval blockade.
Israel rejected Turkey’s action.
Netanyahu’s office described it as an act of “hypocrisy” and accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being an “antisemitic dictator who massacred Kurds, supports the massacre of the Hamas terrorist organisation, and oppresses his own people”.
It said Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilise the region”.
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Netanyahu of “genocide”.
Turkey’s president’s office, in response to the Israeli statement, described Netanyahu’s cabinet remarks as “outrageous ravings” and accused the Israeli prime minister of “seeking to evade accountability”.
The development further escalates tensions between Turkey and Israel over the war in Gaza and Israel’s actions against vessels attempting to deliver aid to the territory.
