Lawyers, human rights defenders, and pro-Palestinian activists gathered in front of the Ankara Courthouse on Thursday to protest the Israeli occupation regime’s attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian humanitarian convoy carrying life-saving aid to Gaza.

The demonstrators, representing the Justice on Earth Platform (YAP), Ankara Bar Association No. 2, and the Ankara Palestine Solidarity Platform (ANFİDAP), not only issued a strongly worded condemnation but also formally filed a criminal complaint against Israeli officials, accusing them of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The protest drew significant attention as it united legal experts, political leaders, and civil society representatives. Among the participants was HÜDA PAR Deputy Chairman and Gaziantep Deputy Şahzade Demir, who reaffirmed his party’s support for the Palestinian cause and stressed that “no nation can remain silent in the face of these crimes against humanity.”

In a comprehensive press statement, Ayşe Ceylan from the International Internal Affairs Office of the Global Sumud Flotilla Delegation detailed the recent assaults on the fleet. On September 8, Israeli drones targeted the Portuguese-flagged vessel Familia Madeira while it was docked at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia. The next day, the British-flagged ship Alma faced a similar attack. Both incidents caused fires aboard the vessels, which were successfully extinguished through emergency response efforts, though two activists were injured in the assaults. “These were not random incidents,” the statement emphasized. “These attacks were targeted, calculated, and aimed at intimidating activists who seek only to deliver food and medical supplies to a besieged civilian population.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla is made up of more than 1,000 activists from 45 countries, including doctors, lawyers, clergy, and human rights defenders. The fleet’s mission is purely humanitarian, carrying no weapons or political agenda other than to break the illegal blockade and deliver relief to Gaza’s starving population.

The joint statement emphasized that targeting civilian ships represents a blatant violation of multiple bodies of international law. Organizers highlighted that such attacks breach Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force against the sovereignty or territorial integrity of another state; the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which obligates parties to protect civilians during armed conflict; and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters.

The lawyers went further, connecting the attacks to a wider pattern of systematic crimes committed against the Palestinian population in Gaza. They argued that Israel’s blockade and deliberate use of starvation as a method of warfare violate Article 54 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and amount to a war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“When a state deliberately deprives a civilian population of food, water, and medicine, and when this deprivation is intended to destroy that population in whole or in part, it is not merely a war crime — it is genocide,” the statement declared.

The organizers called for Israeli officials responsible for these crimes to be prosecuted not only in international courts but also in Türkiye’s domestic courts, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction.

The protest also condemned Israel’s recent military actions beyond Gaza, including reported strikes against targets in Qatar and Yemen earlier this week. “Israel has now expanded its aggression to sovereign states in the region, blatantly violating their territorial integrity,” the statement read, warning that such acts threaten to destabilize the entire Middle East.

The lawyers and activists urged the United Nations to step in immediately to ensure the protection of the flotilla. They called on countries whose citizens are participating in the mission to take diplomatic and legal measures to prevent further attacks and to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“The UN’s credibility is at stake,” they warned. “If the United Nations fails to act now, it will be remembered as complicit in one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the 21st century.”

In a particularly powerful closing message, the organizers stressed that the struggle to deliver aid to Gaza transcends political boundaries and represents a test of global conscience: “The Global Sumud Flotilla stands for human dignity, the right to life, and the culture of solidarity and peace. To attack it is to attack all humanity. Remaining silent is to become complicit. We will not be silent. We will continue to support this journey of conscience until the blockade ends, until the starvation ends, until the genocide ends.”

The demonstration concluded with chants of solidarity for Gaza and prayers for the safety of flotilla participants. Organizers vowed to monitor the investigation into the attacks and to continue legal efforts until justice is served. (ILKHA)