Turkey‘s public prosecutor’s office has announced an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish activists in international waters by Israel, following the boarding early Thursday morning of many of the ships that made up the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was heading to Gaza in an attempt to break the blockade imposed by Israel.
The news were reported by the Turkish news agency Anatolia, which indicated that the investigation opened by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office was carried out within the framework of the “rules of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, Article 15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Articles 12 and 13 of the Turkish Penal Code, and that according to the prosecution would include crimes of kidnapping, illegal seizure of vessels, looting, damage to property and torture.
Sources from the flotilla indicated however that the Turkish nationals detained by Israel numbered at least 25 people, travelling in different boats; Turkish activists arrested include Ayçin Kantoğlu, Abdulaziz Yalçın, Davut Daşkıran, Zeynep Tekocak, Metehan Sarı, Hüseyin Şuayb Ordu, Onur Murat Kolgu, Semih Fener, Osman Çetinkaya, Sümeyra Akdeniz Ordu, Bekir Turunç, Abdulmecid Bagcivan, Mustafa Muhammed Çakmakcı, Mesut Çakar, Muslim Ziyali, Mehmet Sait Direkçi, Fatih Özsöz, Tevhit Yıldız, Sümeyye Sena Pola and Halil Rıfat Çanakçı.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities strongly condemned the Israeli action during the boarding of the Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters. The speaker of the Turkish parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, stated that “any attack on the ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla is a clear violation of international law and a crime”. In the same vein, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz called the operation “an illegal and barbaric attack in international waters“, which he considered “unacceptable”. “I condemn this aggression against the common conscience of humanity,” he added.
More than 220 activists detained by Israel
According to the latest figures provided by the organisers of the expedition, Israeli forces illegally detained 223 international activists on the Gaza-bound flotilla overnight, after intercepting the boats 70 to 80 nautical miles off the Gaza Strip.
The activists denounced an “active aggression” by Israel, explaining that the boats were surrounded, “boarded” and one of them was even “rammed“; they also claimed that Israeli forces even used “water cannons” against the crew, and that communications were deliberately cut off. Reports indicate that some 20 boats were attacked by the Israeli navy, but that at the same time 24 ships managed to continue on their way to Gaza.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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