Turkey and Israel traded barbs on Friday after Ankara announced it had sought an international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of “genocide” linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused Netanyahu of “genocide”. Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu and another Israeli, named as Afek Moskovitch, “as part of the judicial proceedings concerning the attack in international waters on the Flotilla activists”. 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,” the ministry said. In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said Israel was “unimpressed by Turkey’s hypocrisy”. It added that Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilise the region” — an apparent reference to a previous accusation that Ankara was seeking to establish a military presence in Syria, where authorities said Israel bombed an air base near the Turkish border this week.
Turkey Responds to Netanyahu’s Remarks with Strong Criticism
Turkey’s response to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments has been swift and forceful. Erdogan’s office labeled Netanyahu’s remarks as ‘outrageous ravings’ and accused his government of attempting to avoid accountability.
In related developments, Netanyahu faces accusations alongside Afek Moskovitch, an Israeli soldier implicated in actions during the Gaza conflict, according to Turkey’s IHA news agency.
