Türkiye is working with all relevant institutions to ensure the safety and secure return of its citizens detained by Israel, following the illegal intervention against the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday.
In a statement on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal, Fidan said special flights scheduled for later in the day are expected to bring Turkish citizens, as well as participants of the aid flotilla from third countries, back to Türkiye.
The statement stressed that Türkiye will continue to protect the rights of its citizens while fulfilling its humanitarian responsibilities towards civilians in Gaza.
Fidan also reaffirmed Ankara’s continued support for the Palestinian people.
All Gaza-bound flotilla activists released from Israeli detention
On Thursday, Israeli rights group Adalah said all detained activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been released from Israel’s Ktziot prison ahead of deportation.
In a statement, Adalah said it had received “official confirmation” from the Israeli Prison Service and state officials that all activists held at the detention facility had been released and were being transferred for deportation.
“The majority of the participants are being transferred to Ramon Airport to be flown out of the country,” the group said.
Adalah added that its legal team was “actively monitoring the transit process to ensure that all activists are safely and fully deported without further delay.”
Spanish Gaza flotilla activists to be deported via Türkiye: FM
Earlier, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that their citizens from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla would be deported during the day via Türkiye.
"Spain’s consul in Israel has just informed us that they are apparently already being transferred to an airport, Ramon Airport, together with the other activists, in order to be deported, as all indications suggest, via Türkiye," Albares told broadcaster La Hora de La 1.
He, however, noted that it has not yet been officially confirmed, and added: "That is what is already being discussed among the consuls and what is being observed on the ground."
The Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla said on Tuesday that all 50 vessels in its convoy had been seized by Israel.
The flotilla, carrying 428 people from 44 countries, departed last Thursday from the Turkish district of Marmaris in a new attempt to break the illegal Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007.
