Media reports out of Turkey on Friday evening have the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office issuing warrants for the arrest of 37 people, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging “genocide” in connection with the war in Gaza.
The reports were picked up and reposted by Israeli and western media afterwards.
The Times of Israel quotes Turkiye Today, which in turn cited a press statement from the Bosporus metropolis prosecutor’s office, as saying that the list includes Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Turkish prosecutors allege systematic violence against civilians in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s war against Hamas immediately after the latter’s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise terror attacks in southern Israel and the taking of hostages back to the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
According to the Israeli media outlet, the indictment cited in Turkish reports cite specific incidents early in the war, including the Oct. 17, 2023, incident at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which Israeli and US intelligence have claimed was the result of a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an outspoken supporter of Hamas and frequently compares Netanyahu to Hitler, while many of this top ministers, political allies and AKP party officials have also vilified Israel, even before the Oct. 7 attacks and subsequent devastating Israeli response.
Same prosecutor’s office behind Imamoglu arrest
Erdogan’s biggest political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoglu, was arrested last March by Turkish police on charges related to alleged corruption that were filed by the same prosecutor’s office. He remains jailed pending trial on corruption charges.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
In July, however, Imamoğlu was convicted of insulting and threatening Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor, Akın Gürlek, and sentenced to one year and eight months’ imprisonment. The charges followed comments that the popular Turkish mayor made in January 2025, when he accused Gürlek of targeting opposition figures through politically motivated investigation.
Critical EU Commission report on Turkey’s judiciary
The EU Commission’s “Türkiye 2025 Report”, which was released this past week – under the “Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights” chapter (2.2) and sub-section “Judiciary and fundamental rights” – decries the fact that the “…(Turkish) judiciary continues to target opposition figures, journalists, civil society, and human rights defenders, often relying on vague legal definitions that enable discriminatory interpretations.
“… High-profile cases, such as the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul who is also the presumptive presidential candidate of the opposition, have deepened concerns about the independence of the judiciary. No progress was made to improve transparency in the selection, recruitment and promotion of judges and prosecutors. The Ministry of Justice continues to oversee selection boards for new judges and prosecutors. Moreover, judges are frequently removed from cases or transferred without their consent, particularly when their rulings conflict with government interests.”
