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Türkiye to Seek Interpol Notice for Netanyahu in Gaza Flotilla Case

16 March 2023, Berlin: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
16 March 2023, Berlin: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
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Türkiye to Seek Interpol Notice for Netanyahu in Gaza Flotilla Case

16 March 2023, Berlin: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
16 March 2023, Berlin: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Türkiye said on Friday it would seek an Interpol red notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a domestic criminal case linked to an attack on activists seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

NATO member Türkiye has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel's assault on Gaza and has previously issued domestic arrest warrants for Netanyahu over the war there. It has repeatedly called for international measures against Israel ‌over what Ankara calls ‌its violations of human rights and international law. Israel ‌denies ⁠those charges.  

In May, ⁠Israeli forces opened fire on at least two vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing towards Gaza as it was making a renewed attempt to deliver aid to the enclave after earlier missions were intercepted by Israel in international waters. 

In a post on X, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said arrest warrants had been issued for Netanyahu and another suspect on charges that included genocide, crimes against humanity ⁠and torture as part of a case against 35 ‌people over the Israeli interception in international ‌waters. 

"In line with the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu ... our justice ministry has requested ‌that the interior ministry issue (Interpol) red notices for them so that they may ‌be sought internationally," Gurlek said. 

Türkiye will use all available legal mechanisms to ensure Israel is held accountable for its crimes in Gaza, he added. 

A red notice is a request to police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. 

Interpol ‌reviews requests submitted by member states before deciding whether to issue red notices. 

Asked about Gurlek's statement, Netanyahu's ⁠office said: "(Turkish ⁠President Tayyip) Erdogan's pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere."  

Türkiye and Israel also traded barbs this week over Syria, where Israel carried out airstrikes on an air base it said Turkish troops could be deployed to, drawing condemnation from Ankara and criticism from the United States.  

Syria has said there were no plans to deploy Turkish troops to the base. 

Ankara has said Israeli rhetoric against Türkiye and its actions in Syria are fueled by the approach of a parliamentary election in Israel in October. 

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World

Myanmar Military Strike Kills 14 People at a Buddhist Monastery

Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
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Myanmar Military Strike Kills 14 People at a Buddhist Monastery

Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

An airstrike Friday by Myanmar’s military on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region killed 14 people who were taking part in a week-long meditation retreat, an opposition group and a resident said.

The attack is the latest in a series of frequent and deadly aerial strikes targeting armed pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups in the country. The strikes often cause civilian casualties.

The attack occurred Friday at 9 a.m. in Swel Le Oh village in Myaung township, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) west of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, according to Nway Oo, a spokesperson for the Civil Defence and Security Organization of Myaung Township, or CDSOM.

Nway Oo said 14 people, including three women, were killed and 20 others were wounded when a jet fighter dropped a bomb in the compound of the village’s monastery.

A villager who spoke on condition of anonymity also confirmed the death toll to The Associated Press. The villager said the jet fighter dropped two bombs 15 minutes apart, with the second bomb damaging a house near the monastery where more than 100 people were on a week-long retreat during Buddhist Lent.

The villager, who lost a relative in the airstrike, said that people fled to a nearby community after burying bodies of the victims.

Associated Press

World

Iran Vows 'Devastating' Response to US Threat to Cut off its Economic Lifelines

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Iran Vows 'Devastating' Response to US Threat to Cut off its Economic Lifelines

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Iran said on Friday that its response to any new US threats would be "devastating" after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership.

Washington prepared for sanctions that US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said he would detail on Monday. President Donald Trump earlier warned of economic consequences against any country that provided "any type of lifeline to Iran."

The chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said the Islamic Republic's reaction would be broad and decisive.

"With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defense and cyberspace, Iran's armed forces will respond to the enemy's new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses," Abdollahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

The US and Iran have twice announced ceasefire deals, in April and June, aiming to restore the free flow of ships through Hormuz on a path towards ending the nearly six-month-old conflict, but both quickly crumbled.

Bessent told CNBC he would "talk about exactly what we're going to do" on Iran at a press conference on Monday.

"We are going to collapse this regime. It is time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision," he said, describing a naval blockade reimposed on Iran in July and the "toughest sanctions in history" as a "one-two punch".

Iran has weathered near-continuous economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, but its people are suffering high inflation, a weakening currency and energy shortages along with damaged infrastructure.

Some Iranians interviewed by Reuters have said more economic punishment could increase hardship, weaken the clerical establishment and prompt unrest, although there has been no sign of that since a deadly crackdown on protests in January.

Before Bessent spoke, Iran's foreign ministry said US sanctions would not "create even the slightest hesitation in Iranians’ determination to safeguard Iran’s independence, dignity and national sovereignty."

World

Iran President Says Time to End War while in Position of Strength

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Reuters)
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Iran President Says Time to End War while in Position of Strength

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Reuters)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday it was time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States because Tehran appeared to be in a stronger position than Washington.

Tehran is keeping the key Strait of Hormuz partially shut and Washington is persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.

"It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity," Pezeshkian said in a meeting with doctors.

"The whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasises that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world."

Pezeshkian also defended a memorandum of understanding agreed with the US in June aimed at ending the war, claiming it did not signal a defeat for Tehran.

"They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side," he said.

His remarks come weeks after Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the deal to end the war despite having "different views".

Hardline lawmakers in Iran's parliament have also criticized the government over the deal, accusing it of giving concessions to the US, mostly over the re-opening of the strategic Hormuz Strait.

According to reports in US media, the American navy has been organizing and protecting secret convoys of tankers through the southern sector of the Strait of Hormuz enabling between five and 10 million barrels a day of oil to be exported.

As Tehran claimed to be in the stronger position, the US has said it would ramp up sanctions to heap pressure on Tehran.

The American plan drew condemnation from Iran's foreign ministry, which accused the US of "economic terrorism" and "crimes against humanity".

"The perpetrators and instigators of these sanctions are deserving of trial and punishment for committing such heinous crimes," it said in a statement carried by state media.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday vowed Washington would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened campaign nearly six months since their war began.

The comments underscored how the Trump administration is shifting to economic rather than military pressure on Tehran as the US president's unpopular war drags on.

China also criticized Washington's economic plan, saying that US "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict.