PUTRAJAYA, Oct 10 — The Malaysian government is working closely with Turkiye to secure the release of nine Malaysians detained by Israeli forces following the interception of a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza earlier this week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
Anwar said he had been in direct contact with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the matter and expressed hope that the group would be safely brought to Istanbul soon.
“Our citizens, the nine of them, are being handled together with the Turkish president. We pray, Insya Allah, they will arrive in Istanbul,” he told reporters after performing Friday prayers at Presint 11 here.
Anwar added that Erdogan had promised to call him at 3.30pm today for further updates on the ongoing efforts.
“So I will make the announcement during the tabling of the Budget,” he added.
The nine Malaysians are among participants of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens To Gaza humanitarian mission, which involved around 150 activists from 25 countries aboard nine ships, including the Conscience and Umm Saad.
According to local humanitarian organisation MyCARE, eight Malaysians were aboard Conscience, with three doctors, Dr Fauziah Hassan, Dr Hafiz Sulaiman and Dr Ili Syakira Suhaimi, among them.
The group, led by academic Alauddin Ali, also included lecturers Afandi Salleh and Noorhasyimah Ismail, MyCARE trustee Norsham Abu Bakar, and Astro Awani journalist Syafik Shukri Abdul Jalil.
Another Malaysian academic, Maziah Muhammad, was on Umm Saad.
The flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces on October 8 at about 10.50am Malaysian time, when it was under 120 nautical miles from Gaza.
The activists, who were carrying aid supplies for Palestinians, were reportedly detained at the Ketziot Prison in the Negev desert, southern Israel.
The Freedom Flotilla was part of an international effort to break the blockade on Gaza and deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.
