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Ankara: Turkey and Israel traded barbs on Friday after Ankara announced it had sought an international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of \u201cgenocide\u201d linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.<\/strong><\/p>\n Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, after Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023 attack. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused Netanyahu of \u201cgenocide\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s interception of the flotilla carrying some 430 activists in May sparked an international outcry. France, Italy and Australia have also launched judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu and another Israeli, named as Afek Moskovitch, \u201cas part of the judicial proceedings concerning the attack in international waters on the Flotilla activists\u201d.<\/p>\n Netanyahu and Moskovitch are being prosecuted for \u201ccrimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated deprivation of liberty, \u2018intentional assault and battery,\u2019 torture, destruction of property, aggravated looting, and hijacking of transport vehicles,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n In a statement, Netanyahu\u2019s office said Israel was \u201cunimpressed by Turkey\u2019s hypocrisy\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cErdogan is an antisemitic dictator who massacred Kurds, supports Hamas, and oppresses his own people,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n It added that Israel would \u201ccontinue to act forcefully against Turkey\u2019s attempts to destabilise the region\u201d \u2014 an apparent reference to a previous accusation that Ankara was seeking to establish a military presence in Syria, where authorities said Israel bombed an air base near the Turkish border this week.<\/p>\n Turkey quickly fired back, with Erdogan\u2019s office calling the remarks \u201coutrageous ravings\u201d and accusing Netanyahu\u2019s government of \u201cseeking to evade accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n\u2013 \u2018Outrageous ravings\u2019 \u2013<\/h2>\n