Turkish President Erdogan receives International Criminal Court prosecutor for talks

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHNGTON (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday received International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in New York for talks.

The closed-door meeting at the Turkish House came on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.

No further information was released on the meeting but Türkiye and Erdogan have fiercely advocated holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu administration accountable in international courts of law for its nearly year-long relentless offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing or injuring over 130,000 Palestinians.

Khan in May requested that the court issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Khan has requested twice, most recently in August, for the court to expedite the issuance of the warrants.

Since last Oct. 7, over the course of nearly a year, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 41,400 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 95,500, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the UN’s International Court of Justice, a body separate from The Hague-based ICC, which is independent.