Loading…
On 21 August 2026 Turkey formally moved Interpol for Red Notices against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and another Israeli national, Afek Moskovitch.
The Turkish Ministry of Justice asked the Ministry of the Interior to coordinate with Interpol, and the papers were also sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the request rests on domestic arrest warrants issued by the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court on 14 July 2026.
The warrants arise from an Istanbul prosecution of 35 defendants over Israel's armed interception, in international waters, of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla in October 2025.
The charges listed include genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, aggravated deprivation of liberty, intentional injury, property damage, aggravated robbery and hijacking of means of transport.
A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant: it is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, and each of Interpol's 196 member countries applies its own law before acting on it.
A Red Notice is a request circulated by Interpol to police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. It is issued at the request of a member country on the basis of a valid national arrest warrant or court order - Interpol itself has no power to issue arrest warrants and no officers who make arrests. Every member country decides for itself, under its own law, whether to act on a Red Notice; many treat it only as information. Requests are screened against Article 3 of Interpol's Constitution, which forbids the organisation from any intervention or activity of a political, military, religious or racial character, and a person named in a notice can challenge it before the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files.
Simple Analogy: It is a circulated 'wanted' alert among police forces, not a warrant - like one police station telling every other station to look out for someone, while each station still needs its own legal authority to act.
Israeli forces intercept the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issues domestic arrest warrants for Netanyahu and 36 other Israeli officials over genocide allegations linked to the Gaza conflict
The Istanbul prosecutor's office completes its investigation and files an indictment against 35 defendants over the flotilla interception
The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch
Turkey formally requests Interpol Red Notices for the two; Netanyahu's office rejects the move
Facilitates police cooperation and criminal-intelligence sharing among member countries; issues notices at member states' request but has no arrest powers of its own. Founded in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission in Vienna; present name adopted in 1956. 196 member countries.
Functions as India's National Central Bureau for Interpol, the single point of contact between Indian law-enforcement agencies and the Interpol General Secretariat. India has been an Interpol member since 1949 and hosted the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi in October 2022.
GS Paper 2 > International Relations > Important international institutions, agencies and their mandate
General Awareness > International Organisations and Current Affairs
General Awareness > International Current Affairs
General Awareness > Current Affairs
An Interpol request to police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition; not an international arrest warrant.
The designated national agency that links a member country's police to the Interpol General Secretariat; in India this is the CBI.
The provision forbidding Interpol from any intervention or activity of a political, military, religious or racial character.
The independent body before which an individual can challenge the data held about them, including a Red Notice.
The Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters in October 2025, the subject of the Istanbul prosecution.