Netanyahu, holding ICC arrest warrant, wants to build case against Turkey’s Erdogan; demands probe
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself has an arrest warrant by International Criminal Court, has asked an inter-ministerial team to prepare a potential case for ICC against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Turkey’s treatment of Kurds and alleged support for Hamas.According to the report by i24NEWS, Netanyahu instructed an inter-ministerial team and the director of Israel’s International Law Department to begin preparing the case.The report said the proposed legal action would focus primarily on Erdogan’s treatment of Kurdish minorities in Turkey, while also examining allegations related to Turkish government funding and support for Hamas.Netanyahu himself is subject to an ICC arrest warrant issued in November 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was criminally responsible for alleged acts including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts. Netanyahu and Israel have rejected the allegations and challenged the court’s jurisdiction.The reported move comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, with both governments increasingly turning to international legal and diplomatic mechanisms against each other.i24NEWS said the preparation of the case could also be linked to Turkey’s efforts to pursue action against Netanyahu through international channels.The report also said Israeli officials hoped the case might not ultimately need to be filed, with the threat of potential legal action being considered as a deterrent against further Turkish moves. Netanyahu’s office and Israel’s Justice Ministry declined to comment on the report.Turkey faces criticism over treatment of KurdsTurkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began in 1984 and has killed more than 40,000 people over four decades.Human rights groups have for years criticised Ankara over its treatment of Kurdish politicians and activists. Human Rights Watch said in its 2026 report that Turkey had yet to take steps to ensure equal rights for Kurds, amend what it described as abusive counterterrorism laws or release Kurdish political prisoners.It also highlighted the continued imprisonment of former pro-Kurdish HDP leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.The criticism also extends to local politics. Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have documented the removal of elected Kurdish mayors and their replacement by government-appointed trustees, while the European Parliament has criticised the practice as undermining local democracy.Turkey maintains that its counterterrorism measures are aimed at the PKK and other groups it considers security threats, rather than Kurds as an ethnic community. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the European Union.
