Turkey on Thursday said it was sending charter flights to Israel to repatriate Gaza flotilla activists, after Israeli forces detained them in scenes that sparked international condemnation.
“We plan to bring our citizens and participants from third countries to Turkey via special charter flights we will organize today,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a statement.
Küresel Sumud Filosu’na gerçekleştirilen hukuka aykırı müdahale sonucunda alıkonulan vatandaşlarımızın güvenliğini ve ülkemize sağ salim dönüşlerini sağlamak için ilgili tüm kurumlarımızla birlikte çalışıyoruz.
Bugün düzenleyeceğimiz özel uçak seferleriyle vatandaşlarımızı ve…
— Hakan Fidan (@HakanFidan) May 21, 2026
Foreign ministry sources said “three flights” with a capacity for “more than 400 passengers” were being sent to Ramon Airport some 20 kilometers (14 miles) from the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Around 50 vessels set sail from Turkey on May 14 seeking to break Israel’s blockade of the besieged Palestinian territory and were joined at sea by a handful of others.
Israeli forces began intercepting them off Cyprus on Tuesday, with Israeli officials and the flotilla organizers saying some 430 activists were detained.
They were taken to Ashdod port, where footage posted by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir showed them being forced to kneel, their hands tied behind their backs, foreheads on the ground.
The images sparked a wave of global shock and disgust, with Ankara saying it “openly demonstrated to the world the violent and barbaric mentality” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Fidan did not say how many activists would be flown to Turkey, but Turkish media reported that 78 Turkish nationals were among the detainees.
The foreign minister said Turkey was working “to ensure the safety of our citizens who have been detained following the unlawful intervention against the Global Sumud Fleet, and to facilitate their safe return to Turkey.”
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. During the war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Gaza has suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies, with Israel at times halting aid deliveries entirely.
More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to figures from Gaza health authorities. Independent trackers and humanitarian sources have continued to report the toll as above 72,000, while experts have said the true number is likely higher.
A previous flotilla was intercepted last month in international waters off Greece. Most activists were expelled to Europe, while two were taken to Israel, detained for several days and then deported.
© Agence France-Presse