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 quickly fired back, with Erdogan’s office calling the remarks “outrageous ravings” and accusing Netanyahu’s government of “seeking to evade accountability”. Netanyahu’s co-accused, Afek Moskovitch, is an Israeli soldier, who is also accused over actions in Gaza, according to Turkey’s IHA news agency. Earlier reporting noted: Israeli PM Netanyahu calls Turkish President Erdogan ‘antisemitic dictator’ The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator” and vowed Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilise the region”. Earlier reporting noted: Netanyahu had said Turkey was looking to establish a military presence there, but Turkey has denied any visit to the site. Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who massacred Kurds, supports the massacre of the Hamas terrorist organisation, and oppresses his own people,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Earlier reporting noted: “Israel has long been unimpressed by Turkey’s hypocrisy.
