Turkey formally submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today to join South Africa's lawsuit against Israel for an alleged violation of the Genocide Convention, due to its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Emboldened by the impunity of its crimes, Israel is killing more innocent Palestinians every day. The international community must do its part to stop the genocide: it must exert the necessary pressure on Israel and its supporters," said the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, via social media.
For his part, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oncu Keçeli, specified that the request, "prepared in an extremely complete and detailed manner, is based on Article 63 of the Statute of the Court. The case before the International Court of Justice is extremely important to ensure that the crimes committed by Israel do not go unpunished," he said, adding that "no country in the world is above international law".
Fidan announced the decision on Monday during a press conference from the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where he met with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdulati. The Turkish foreign minister stressed that those who "unconditionally" support Israel are the main ones responsible for the erosion of the foundations of international order. Turkey had already announced in May that it would join South Africa's lawsuit, although the process had not been formalized at the time. It thus becomes the seventh country to participate, after Spain, Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico and Palestine itself.
