Ankara: Trkiye's Foreign Ministry announced that 18 Turkish citizens detained by Israel aboard ships of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition are scheduled to return home Friday afternoon on a special flight. Trkiye is also planning to evacuate around 80 activists from other countries on the same flight, according to ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli, who shared the information in a statement on Thursday.

According to Anadolu Agency, three members of the Turkish parliament who were part of the flotilla have already returned to Trkiye on Thursday evening. The Israeli navy intercepted the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's Thousand Madleens convoy to Gaza in international waters on Wednesday, approximately 120 nautical miles from the enclave.

The convoy embarked on its journey after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized over 40 boats part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla last week, detaining more than 450 activists. Most of these activists have since been deported. Israel, as the occupying power, has a history of attacking Gaza-bound ships, seizing their cargo, and deporting the activists on board.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have resulted in the deaths of nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, with the majority being women and children, rendering the area uninhabitable.