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Israeli naval units unlawfully seized in international waters several vessels belonging to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that set out to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid, Turkish officials said Wednesday.
Among those on board the vessel Vicdan, which Israel detained, were Saadet Party Hatay MP Necmettin Caliskan, Bursa MP Mehmet Atmaca, and Future Party Denizli MP Sema Silkin Un.
Denizli MP Sema Silkin Un announced Wednesday that she had been “unlawfully detained” by Israeli forces.
Israeli soldiers boarded the Vicdan early in the morning while it was en route to Gaza.
In a video posted on X, Un said, “I am Sema Silkin Un, a Member of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. If you are watching this video, it means that I have been unlawfully detained by Israeli forces during the voyage I undertook to break the illegal blockade against Gaza.”
Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Numan Kurtulmus issued a sharp warning to Israel, saying, “If any harm comes to our parliamentary colleagues, you will be the ones to account for it before the world public. Israel—these are the final straws.”
“Speed up your procedures to return Türkiye’s honorable and heroic MPs to Türkiye as soon as possible,” Kurtulmus added.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Israeli interception, calling it “an act of piracy” and “an attack on civil activists, including Turkish citizens and members of parliament.”
“The intervention in international waters against the Freedom Flotilla is an act of piracy,” the ministry said in a statement.
“All necessary steps have been taken to secure the release of our citizens detained by Israeli forces aboard the Freedom Flotilla and their return to our country,” it added.
“The situation of other activists is also being closely monitored in coordination with the relevant countries.”
“Türkiye will continue to support the Palestinian cause and to work toward ending the genocide in Gaza,” the ministry emphasized.
The latest convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week, part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining over 450 activists from more than 50 countries.
Most of the detainees have since been deported.
Israel, as the occupying power, has previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo, and deported activists on board.
It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years, tightening it further in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries—pushing the enclave toward famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and rendered the territory uninhabitable.
Negotiations to end the war, based on a 20-point plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump, are currently underway in Egypt.
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