Türkiye condemns Israeli intervention against Global Sumud aid flotilla

Türkiye's communications director condemned Wednesday what he described as aggressive intervention against the Global Sumud aid flotilla in international waters on a mission of mercy to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

"I strongly condemn the intervention carried out against the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, as well as the aggressive treatment of those on board the flotilla, which had set out to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza," Burhanettin Duran said in a statement posted on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

Duran added that verbal and physical attacks against civilians once again "clearly exposed the Israeli administration's lawless conduct and its disregard for human dignity and universal humanitarian values."

"The barbarity displayed by a genocidal Israeli minister towards the activists has taken its place among the darkest pages of history," he said, referring to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

Duran also called for the safe return of the detained aid volunteers to their home countries.

He added that Türkiye, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will continue to stand with "the oppressed" and defend "the just cause of the people of Gaza on every platform."