A Turkish Airlines flight carrying 59 participants of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, including 18 Turkish citizens, arrived in İstanbul late Friday after Israeli forces intercepted their boats in international waters near the Greek island of Crete.
The flight departed from Heraklion on Crete and landed at İstanbul Airport at 9:45 p.m. local time, where the activists were welcomed by relatives, Turkish officials and supporters at the airport’s VIP terminal.
Turkey’s foreign ministry had said the flight was carrying participants from a number of countries, including the United States, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Chile and New Zealand.
The participants were expected to undergo medical examinations at the İstanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine as part of an investigation launched by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into the Israeli interception.
The Global Sumud Flotilla’s Turkey delegation had earlier said 20 Turkish nationals were detained after Israeli forces attacked the boats more than 600 nautical miles from Gaza and only a few miles outside Greek territorial waters.
Turkish reports said 18 Turkish citizens were on the first flight to İstanbul, while two Turkish participants were unable to board because of medical checks and were expected to return later.
The flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona on April 12 and later continued from Sicily, was seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the enclave.
Flotilla officials said Israel seized 21 boats during the operation, while 31 escaped and entered Greek territorial waters.
Greek authorities said 31 injured activists were taken to Sitia Hospital on Crete for first aid treatment after the interception.
One Turkish activist, Halil Erdoğmuş, said after arriving in İstanbul that Israeli forces came aboard near midnight and detained activists in international waters far from Gaza.
“We could not imagine that Israeli soldiers could come to the middle of Europe, in international waters, and take us from our ship,” Erdoğmuş said, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the interception as an unlawful intervention against a civilian aid mission, while Turkish officials described Israel’s actions as piracy in international waters.
The latest interception comes months after Israeli forces detained hundreds of activists aboard earlier Gaza-bound flotillas, including Turkish citizens and, in a separate October 2025 raid, three members of the Turkish Parliament.
Turkish prosecutors in April indicted 35 Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over a previous Global Sumud Flotilla interception, accusing them of crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity, deprivation of liberty, torture and hijacking or detaining means of transportation.