JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane took an unusual route to New York on Thursday, skirting several European countries en route to the United Nations General Assembly.
Although France had authorized Israeli use of its airspace, according to a French diplomatic source who spoke to AFP, flight-tracking data showed Netanyahu’s aircraft instead took a southern path.
It crossed Greece and Italy, then veered south through the Strait of Gibraltar before heading across the Atlantic.
Britain, France and Portugal were among a string of countries to recognize a Palestinian state this week, a move Netanyahu bitterly opposes. Ireland and Spain announced their recognition in May.
Israeli media, meanwhile, reported that the detour by Netanyahu’s plane was intended to avoid countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute, which could enforce an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in case of an emergency landing.
The ICC in November issued warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
Spain last week announced it would support the ICC investigation and had set up a team to probe alleged human rights violations in Gaza, as part of its broader push to pressure Israel to end the war.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Friday. He is also slated to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next week.
Netanyahu’s plane takes unusual route to UN summit
https://arab.news/nwr6t
Netanyahu’s plane takes unusual route to UN summit
- Although France had authorized Israeli use of its airspace, flight-tracking data showed Netanyahu’s aircraft instead took a southern path
- It crossed Greece and Italy, then veered south through the Strait of Gibraltar
Turkiye ‘closely’ monitoring Kurdish groups as Iran war rages
- “We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said
- “Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation“
ANKARA: Turkiye’s defense ministry on Thursday said it was “closely” following the actions of Kurdish militant groups over concerns they are being drawn into the war, reportedly by US-led efforts to destabilize Iran.
The conflict began on Saturday when US-Israeli strikes hit Iran, which retaliated with strikes across the region, with Tehran on Wednesday saying it had hit Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq.
The move came as reports suggested Washington was looking to arm Kurdish guerrillas to infiltrate Iran — a move that would likely raise hackles in Turkiye.
“We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said of an Iran-based Kurdish group which is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish militant PKK.
“Activities of groups like the PJAK terrorist organization, which promote ethnic separatism, negatively affect not only Iran’s security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” the ministry said.
“Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation.”
On February 22, the PJAK (the Kurdistan Free Life Party) and four other exiled Kurdish groups announced a political coalition to seek the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.
Spread across Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds are one of Iran’s most important non-Persian ethnic minority groups and have long supported anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic.
Turkiye has been seeking to end its conflict with the PKK, which formally disbanded last year after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives.
Although most PKK-linked groups embraced the call to disarm, the PJAK did not, with Ankara concerned any regional unrest could embolden recalcitrant Kurdish separatists.
In late January, following a wave of deadly anti-government protests in Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that “the complete neutralization of PJAK constitutes an urgent necessity for Iran’s security.”
