Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Wednesday that Turkey would join in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), reported Reuters.
The minister said that Turkey has been thinking of a strong response to Israel’s violations during the war on Gaza after it has already taken serious steps against Israel, such as the restrictions on some exports.
“Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision,” Fidan stated in a joint press conference with Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Ankara.
Fidan added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved the officials’ plan which means that Turkey “will legally support South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ, and file our application to the court soon,” Fidan said.
He underscored that Turkey supports the Palestinians from the outbreak of the war and “Turkey will continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances.”
In January, Erdogan said that Turkey was providing documents for the case at the ICJ in order to strengthen South Africa’s case against Israel. Turkey’s application comes after a couple of applications submitted separately by Nicaragua and Colombia to join the genocide case. However, the court is yet to make a decision on their request.
Nicaragua’s application was submitted under Article 62 of the ICJ Statute, requesting intervention in South Africa’s case against Israel.
Columbia supported South Africa’s case and requested a different type of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute to assist the Court in interpreting the provisions of the Convention in this case.
As a response to South Africa’s case, The ICJ ordered Israel in January to abstain from any acts that can fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure that its military forces commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians.
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