Türkiye’s defense ministry said on Tuesday it is closely monitoring the eastern Mediterranean and that its ships in the region are prepared to assist “humanitarian missions if needed” — a reference to the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade of the territory.
A day earlier, Turkish navy helped evacuate activists on board Johnny M, one of the flotilla vessels after it began taking in water in an area off the coast of Crete, Türkiye’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The flotilla includes 52 mostly small vessels carrying activists from dozens of countries and a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, mainly food and medicine, for Palestinians in Gaza.
