Turkey has called on Interpol to issue a Red Notice against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 35 other Israeli officials on charges including genocide, according to an X/Twitter post by Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek.
“We categorically reject the notion that the Netanyahu administration, which is implementing a genocide policy in Gaza, is untouchable and unaccountable,” Gurlek wrote on Friday.
“We will not allow the crimes committed in Gaza to be covered up or the perpetrators to be shielded by impunity. We will resolutely utilize all possibilities of national and international law,” he continued.
Gurlek went on to say that “we will continue to stand firmly by the side of the Palestinian people, the oppressed, and the conscience of humanity.”
“We will take all necessary steps with determination to ensure that those who commit crimes against humanity are held accountable before the law,” he added.
According to Interpol’s website, a Red Notice is a request to worldwide law enforcement agencies to find and potentially arrest an individual “pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.”
It noted that ultimately, it would be the local agency’s choice whether to arrest the wanted individual.
Turkey originally indicted Netanyahu and the other 35 Israeli officials in April over the naval interception of the October 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla, seeking sentences of up to 4,596 years in prison, Turkish media reported at the time.
Turkey issued the initial arrest warrant in November following Israel’s detention of over 400 of the flotilla’s participants, including anti-Israel and climate activist Greta Thunberg. They were deported shortly after.
The request announced by Gurlek follows an IDF strike on the Abu al-Duhur military air base in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province on Tuesday, with a source telling The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the strikes were necessary to avoid a clash between Israeli and Turkish forces.
Turkey: Forces in Syria posed no threat to Israel
Ankara rejected Israel’s allegations that the Turkish forces posed a threat to the country’s security, saying that Jerusalem’s actions were “intended to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity in Syria,” the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey said.
PMO: Israel 'unimpressed by Turkey's hypocrisy,' Erdogan an 'antisemitic dictator'
The Prime Minister’s Office responded to Turkey on Friday, calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “an antisemitic dictator who massacres Kurds, supports the massacre [carried out by] the Hamas terrorist organization, and oppresses his own people.”
“Israel has long been unimpressed by Turkey’s hypocrisy,” it continued, saying that Jerusalem would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilize the region and any threat to its security.”
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.