ANKARA, October 30. /TASS/. Turkey can’t directly ask the International Criminal Court to start a trial on Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, but could notify a court prosecutor about the crimes, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
The report came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to declare Israel a war criminal.
The newspaper said Ankara can’t make requests to the ICC of because it has not signed the Rome Statute. Erdogan made it clear at a rally in support of Palestine in Istanbul on October 28 that he intends to explore certain opportunities to declare Israel an international war criminal. Investigating such crimes is under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Hurriyet reported that, although Turkey can’t directly ask the ICC to establish an international tribunal, it can "inform the prosecutor's office" of the crimes through government agencies and non-governmental organizations. This is probably how Turkey will act, the newspaper said. It also noted that Turkey has strong evidence that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.
Erdogan said at an October 28 rally that he was "already working to declare Israel a war criminal." He also called the Jewish state an occupier. He also said that the radical Palestinian organization Hamas is not a terrorist group.
The Rome Statute is the international treaty that established the ICC and. 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.