Turkey requests international arrest warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla arrest

Turkey has requested an Interpol red notice for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his interior minister, Afek Moskovitch, over the interception of a Gaza-bound Flotilla.

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The justice minister, Akin Gurlek, in a post on X on Friday, disclosed that the request was part of an ongoing prosecution over an attack on the activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in May.

A red notice is a request to police forces worldwide to find and arrest a person wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence. Interpol reviews requests submitted by member states before deciding whether to issue red notices.

Mr Gurlek also said the arrest warrants issued by the ICC for Messrs Netanyahu and Moskovitch on 14 July on charges of “genocide” prompted the Justice Ministry to ask the Interior Ministry to seek Interpol red notices for the two suspects.

Mr Gurlek said judicial proceedings were continuing before Istanbul’s 11th High Criminal Court against 35 defendants.

“As part of the judicial proceedings concerning the attack in international waters on the Flotilla activists and in accordance with the arrest warrants issued on July 14, 2026, against Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch for ‘genocide’,

“Netanyahu and Moskovitch are being prosecuted for “crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated deprivation of liberty, ‘intentional assault and battery’, torture, destruction of property, aggravated looting, and hijacking of transport vehicles,’” he said.

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In May, a Gaza-bound flotilla of more than 50 boats carrying aid for Palestinians in war-torn Gaza was intercepted in international waters near Cyprus.

Israeli forces opened fire on at least two boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla, and later detained hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists aboard these boats. Some of the activists said they were physically or sexually abused while in detention.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Israel National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, triggered public outrage after posting footage of detained activists on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.

In the footage, Mr Ben-Gvir was seen waving an Israeli flag and mocking the detainees. He screamed, “The people of Israel live” in the face of one bound man who was being dragged to join the group already on their knees.

Although Turkey has strongly criticised Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since 2023, the red notice request comes as relations between the countries deteriorate further over competing interests in Syria.

On Tuesday, Israel struck an airbase in Syria over concerns that the country was on the “verge” of violating a “status quo” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase. This action heightened tensions in the already volatile Middle East.

Israel carried out eight airstrikes on the runway and storage facilities at the Abu al-Duhur military base near Aleppo in northwest Syria. The incident occurred a day after Damascus announced that a Turkish military delegation visited the base—a visit the Turkish Defense Ministry later denied.

Two days later, Israel accused Turkey of pursuing “dangerous adventures in Syria.” Ankara, in response, called for a halt to reckless Israeli attacks on the country.

Hours after Turkey announced its Red Notice request to Interpol, Israel accused Turkey President Recep Erdogan of being an “anti-Semitic dictator.”

Jerusalem described the action as a “pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, which will go nowhere.”

However, the Turkish president’s office in turn denounced Mr Netanyahu’s “petty political tactics” and accused the Israeli government of attempting “to present Turkey as a new threat.”