Turkey on Friday said it began process of seeking the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) red notice against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and interior minister Afek Moskovitch.

The request to the law enforcement agency followed a Turkish criminal case involving the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which was intercepted in international waters and its passengers detained during an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza in October 2025.

Turkey’s minister of justice Akin Gurlek in a post on X said the case, which prompted its red notice request, was a suit before the Istanbul 11th Heavy Penal Court against 35 defendants, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch.

Mr Gurlek stated, “In the scope of the file, in line with the arrest warrants issued on July 14, 2026, for Binyamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch on the charge of “Genocide,” a request has been made to our Ministry of Interior for the issuance of a red notice at the international level for their search, and the relevant documents have been forwarded to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The minister of justice said the Israeli leaders were being tried in absentia on charges including “crimes against humanity, genocide, deprivation of liberty of a qualified person and intentional injury.”

The other charges are “torture, damage to property, qualified plunder and hijacking of transport vehicles” delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters and the subsequent detention of the activists onboard.

Mr Gurlek stated that the Turkish government rejected the belief that Mr Netanyahu’s administration, believed to be implementing genocide policy in Gaza, was untouchable and unaccountable. 

“We will not allow the crimes committed in Gaza to be covered up or the perpetrators to be shielded by impunity. We will resolutely utilise all possibilities of national and international law,” the justice minister said.

“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 said.

The red notice is a request that can be made by a country through INTERPOL to provisionally arrest a person wanted by a country or international tribunal.