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Three Turkish members of Parliament who were aboard a Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel unlawfully seized by Israel arrived late Thursday in Istanbul after being released and flown via Azerbaijan.
The New Path (YY Party), Denizli MP Sema Silkin Un, Bursa MP Mehmet Atmaca, and Hatay MP Necmettin Caliskan landed at Istanbul Airport at 10:20 p.m. local time on an Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku. The lawmakers had earlier departed from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport around noon before connecting in the Azerbaijani capital.
At the airport’s VIP lounge, the MPs were welcomed by their families, Saadet Party Chairman Mahmut Arikan, Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA Party) Chairman Ali Babacan, Türkiye–Palestine Interparliamentary Friendship Group Chair and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Istanbul MP Hasan Turan; YY Party Group Chairman Bulent Kaya; and party members and citizens.
Speaking to reporters after their arrival, Un recounted the moments of the Israeli raid on the vessel Vicdan, which she said took place “without recognizing any principles of international law.”
“We were taken on a 15-hour journey to Ashdod Port,” she said. “Although we were told we would be sent to prison, we were taken to the airport instead and later to a police station, where we were held separately for 12 hours before our transfer to Azerbaijan was arranged.”
Un, who was aboard the Freedom Flotilla’s Vicdan ship, said: “Our journey that began with the ship Sumud has now concluded with Vicdan and the Freedom Flotilla. The path opened and the victory achieved by Sumud have been crowned with Vicdan and the Freedom Flotilla."
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said 18 Turkish citizens detained by Israel aboard Freedom Flotilla vessels are expected to return home Friday afternoon on a special flight.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli added that Türkiye also plans to evacuate about 80 foreign activists on the same flight.
Three members of the Turkish Parliament who were part of the flotilla—Un, Atmaca, and Caliskan—returned to Türkiye on Thursday evening, Keceli confirmed.
The Israeli navy intercepted ships of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s “Thousand Madleens” convoy to Gaza early Wednesday in international waters, about 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) from the enclave.
The convoy followed last week’s Israeli operation in which naval forces seized more than 40 boats from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and detained over 450 activists from more than 50 countries. Most have since been deported.
Israel has previously attacked and confiscated Gaza-bound aid vessels, seizing their cargo and expelling activists on board.
The Gaza Strip, home to nearly 2.4 million people, has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly 18 years. Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and rendered the enclave largely uninhabitable.
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