ISTANBUL, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Turkey said on Friday it would seek an Interpol red notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a domestic criminal case linked to an attack on activists seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
NATO member Turkey has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza and has previously issued domestic arrest warrants for Netanyahu over the war there. It has repeatedly called for international measures against Israel over what Ankara calls its violations of human rights and international law. Israel denies those charges.
In May, Israeli forces opened fire on at least two vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing towards Gaza as it was making a renewed attempt to deliver aid to the enclave after earlier missions were intercepted by Israel in international waters.
In a post on X, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said arrest warrants had been issued for Netanyahu and another suspect on charges that included genocide, crimes against humanity and torture as part of a case against 35 people over the Israeli interception in international waters.
“In line with the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu … our justice ministry has requested that the interior ministry issue (Interpol) red notices for them so that they may be sought internationally,” Gurlek said.
Turkey will use all available legal mechanisms to ensure Israel is held accountable for its crimes in Gaza, he added.
A red notice is a request to police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition.
Interpol reviews requests submitted by member states before deciding whether to issue red notices.
ISRAEL BRANDS MOVE ‘PATHETIC’
Asked about Gurlek’s statement, Netanyahu’s office said: “(Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere.”
Turkey and Israel also traded barbs this week over Syria, where Israel carried out airstrikes on an air base it said Turkish troops could be deployed to, drawing condemnation from Ankara and criticism from the United States. Syria has said there were no plans to deploy Turkish troops to the base.
Turkey’s influence in Syria as an ally of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has stirred Israeli alarm since Sharaa toppled veteran leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024. Ankara has said Israeli rhetoric against Turkey and its actions in Syria are fuelled by the approach of a parliamentary election in Israel in October.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Editing by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Gareth Jones)
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