Turkey Seeks Interpol Red Notice for Netanyahu Over Gaza Flotilla Interception
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said domestic arrest warrants had been issued on charges including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture linked to the May seizure of the aid flotilla.
Istanbul2 min read
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Turkey will seek an Interpol red notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a domestic criminal investigation into the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the justice minister announced on Friday.
Akın Gürlek said arrest warrants had been issued for Netanyahu and another suspect on charges that included genocide, crimes against humanity and torture. The case covers 35 people connected to Israel’s armed intervention against the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters in May.
The justice ministry has asked the interior ministry to request the red notices so the individuals may be sought internationally, Gürlek wrote on social media. Turkey will use all available legal mechanisms to ensure accountability for crimes in Gaza, he added.
In May, Israeli forces intercepted more than 400 activists aboard roughly 50 vessels that had sailed from Turkey in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. Ankara has long been among the strongest critics of Israel’s military campaign in the territory.
Netanyahu’s office described the Turkish move as pathetic and said it would go nowhere. Israel rejects the genocide allegation and maintains that the flotilla interception was a lawful enforcement of a naval blockade.
An Interpol red notice is a request to law-enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action. It is not an international arrest warrant and member countries decide independently whether to act on it.
Turkey had previously issued domestic warrants against Netanyahu over the Gaza war. The latest step escalates the legal confrontation between the two countries at a time of heightened regional tension.
The flotilla case forms part of a wider Turkish effort to pursue international legal avenues against Israeli officials. Whether Interpol will process the request and whether any third country will act on a resulting notice remains to be seen.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated sharply since the start of the Gaza conflict. Diplomatic ties remain limited and public rhetoric on both sides has grown increasingly harsh.
