The Israeli military detained at least 20 Turkish nationals Wednesday when it intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off Greece, a Turkish delegation aboard the flotilla confirmed.
Israeli forces surrounded the boats more than 600 nautical miles from the Gaza Strip, just off the coast of the island of Crete, detaining over 200 activists on board, the delegation told Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA).
The detained Turkish nationals and the name of the boats they were on are as follows: Mustafa Enes Topal (Saf Saf), Muhammed Özdem (Saf Saf), Ali Deniz (Esplai), Yunus Kava (Esplai), Şahin Yaslık (Saf Saf), Mustafa Arslan (Saf Saf), Abdulselam Demir (Freia), Nevzat Öylek (Esplai), Nevzat Güzel (Freia), Halil Erdoğmuş (Esplai), Abdüllatif Faslı (Freia), Hüseyin Şuayb Ordu (Saf Saf), Mahmut Akay (Saf Saf), Görkem Duru (Ghea), Mehmet Atlı (Ghea), Mükremin Köse (Freia), Ramazan Tekdemir (Freia), Mahmut Çağatay Yavuz (Eros 1), Hüseyin Oral (Saf Saf), and Ömer Osman Taştan (Freia).
The Israeli navy intercepted vessels from the flotilla late Wednesday as they headed toward Gaza to break a longstanding blockade on the enclave.
The group said Israeli forces surrounded the convoy in international waters near the Greek island of Crete, jammed communications and seized 21 vessels, adding that 17 vessels managed to escape and enter Greek waters following the incident.
The flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, aims to break Israel’s blockade and open a humanitarian corridor by sea.
The move came hours after Hebrew media reported that Israel was preparing to intercept the flotilla, which includes around 100 boats in total carrying nearly 1,000 activists from several countries.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving about 1.5 million Palestinians out of roughly 2.4 million homeless after their homes were destroyed during the war.
