ANKARA, November 14. /TASS/. A lawsuit of a group of Turkish citizens against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet been filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC); it is being considered by the Turkish justice ministry, lawyer Burak Bekiroglu, one of the initiators of the petition, told TASS on Tuesday.

"We have referred our petition to the international anti-corruption law bureau of the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office to be further sent to the ICC. Today, this bureau submitted our petition to the Justice Ministry’s main directorate for foreign relations via the UYAP electronic system. And it will send the physical copy of our suit to the ICC. The motion will reach the ICC not later than next week," he said.

The Anadolu news agency reported earlier in the day that former lawmaker with Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, Metin Kulunk, and Turkish lawyers Mucahit Birinci and Burak Bekiroglu have sent a petition to the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office asking it to file a lawsuit against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the International Criminal Court.

The petition said that Netanyahu "has committed crimes such as war, genocide and a crime against humanity in full view of the world." It also said that "Netanyahu does not hesitate to use weapons prohibited by international law in what could constitute crimes." The petition stated that "Netanyahu and his associates should be brought before the International Criminal Court under international criminal norms."

Turkey cannot officially file lawsuits with the ICC as it has not signed the Rome Statute. According to the Hurriyet newspaper, although Ankara cannot directly apply to the court to set up a tribunal, it can "inform the prosecutor’s office" about crimes via government structures or non-government organizations.

The International Criminal Code was founded on the basis of the Rome Statute in 1998. The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. The court has jurisdiction over crimes committed after July 1, 2002 in the territory of a state party to the Rome Statute, as well as by nationals of states parties in the territory of any other country. If the state on whose territory the crime occurred is not a party to the statute or its nationals are suspected of serious crimes, the UNSC may issue a mandate to initiate criminal prosecutions.

Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute. It was a party to the agreement until 2002, but withdrew its signature.