Turkey’s Ambassador to The Hague and the Turkish Grand National Assembly Delegation Declared Their Intervention in the Genocide Case
Turkey’s Ambassador to The Hague Selçuk Ünal and a delegation of MPs from the Turkish Grand National Assembly forwarded Turkey’s declaration of intervention to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today. This delegation consists of AK Party Istanbul MP Prof. Dr. Cüneyt Yüksel, Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Chairman and AK Party Istanbul MP İsmail Emrah Karayel, and Constitution Commission Member and Denizli MP Cahit Özkan.
Turkey is now the seventh country to declare intervention in the genocide case filed against Israel. Turkey stands out as an important regional country in this case, where Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine and Spain have previously declared intervention. This initiative, made within the scope of Article 63 of the Court Statute, requires the Court to inform Israel and South Africa, who are parties to the case. In addition, these two countries are expected to submit their observations regarding Turkey’s declaration of intervention to the Court.
South Africa Files Genocide Case Against Israel
On 29 December 2023, the Republic of South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice for violating the 1948 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. South Africa requested the ICJ to order interim measures due to the urgency of the situation in Gaza, and hearings regarding this request were held on 11-12 January at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The Court announced the precautionary measures on January 26 and ruled on the following:
- Israel should take all measures in its power to prevent the acts defined in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention from being committed.
- Take immediate measures to prevent the Israeli army from committing acts listed in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention.
- Take all necessary steps to prevent, obstruct and punish those who call for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
- Take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of essential services and humanitarian assistance needed to alleviate the adverse living conditions faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
- Take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence demonstrating violations of the Genocide Convention against Palestinians in Gaza.
- Submit a report to the Court on all measures taken within 1 month from the entry into force of the decision.
In its additional measure decision announced on March 28, following South Africa’s request for additional measures on March 6, the Court emphasized that Israel should ensure that urgently needed humanitarian aid is delivered to Gaza and that it should not violate the rights of Palestinians. It was also decided that it should report to the Court within one month on the measures it has taken regarding additional measures.
In its decision dated May 24, the Court, taking into account the seriousness of the humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinians trapped in Rafah, stated that the measures it had previously ruled were inadequate and requested the following measures to be taken:
- Israel must immediately cease its military attacks on the city of Rafah.
- Keeping the Rafah Border Crossing open to ensure that urgently needed services and humanitarian aid in Gaza can be provided without hindrance.
- Take effective measures to ensure unhindered access to the Gaza Strip for those assigned by UN authorities to investigate attacks of genocide.
- To submit a report to the Court within one month regarding all measures to be taken.
