By Kolawole Ojebisi
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his country’s support for arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court of Justice for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Erdigan on Saturday praised the ICC for the action taken describing it as a “courageous decision”.
“We support the arrest warrant. We consider it important that this courageous decision be carried out by all country members of the accord to renew the trust of humanity in the international system,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.
The ICC issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif on Thursday on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza conflict.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu accused the ICC of anti-Semitism on Thursday after it issued the arrest warrants for him and Gallant.
“It is imperative that western countries—who for years have given the world lessons on law, justice and human rights—keep their promises at this stage,” added Erdogan, whose country is not a state party in the ICC accord.
Erdogan has become a fierce critic of Israel since the start of its military offensive on Gaza in October 2023.
He has vowed several times to ensure that Israel’s prime minister, who has angrily condemned the ICC warrants, is “brought to account” over the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territory.
Recall that Turkey and 52 other countries this month sent a letter to the United Nations demanding an end to arms sales and deliveries to Israel.
Erdogan’s praise of the ICC’s decision has increased the number of countries showing their opposition to Israeli unrelenting invasion of Palestine.
