Türkiye, EU support ICC arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister, former defense chief

Turkish president and EU foreign affairs chief on Saturday expressed support for the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamen Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the ICC's pre-trial chamber accused Netanyahu and Gallant of committing "crimes against humanity and war crimes" between at least Oct 8, 2023 and May 20, 2024, the date when the prosecution submitted the arrest warrant applications.

The ICC stated that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant "each bear criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators" for committing war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

When delivering a speech in Istanbul, the country's largest city, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he welcomes and hails the "courageous decision" of the ICC, and that it should be carried out by all state parties to the ICC.

On the same day, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell pointed out that European Union member states are obliged to implement the arrest warrant issued by the ICC.

The arrest warrant has drawn different responses from among world countries, with the United States and the Czech Republic supporting Israel, and Canada, Australia and European countries including The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Finland, Portugal and Ireland showing respect and support for the ICC's decision.

Türkiye, EU support ICC arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister, former defense chief

Türkiye, EU support ICC arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister, former defense chief

A growing number of global tourists are eying trips to China following the country's decision to expand its visa-free policy to nine more countries, including Japan, Bulgaria and Romania.

The expanded visa-free policy, effective from November 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025, was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, bringing the total number of countries benefiting from China's visa-free policy to 38. Following the announcement, searches for Chinese destinations on various travel platforms surged. On China's leading online travel agency Ctrip, such searches increased month-on-month by 65 percent in Europe and 112 percent in Japan. Inquiries for direct flights from many places in Japan to China also increased significantly.

South Korea is also seeing a surge in travel bookings to China after gaining visa-free entry in the fifth round of expansion, effective from this year's Nov 8 to December 31 next year.

According to the South Korean economic newspaper Aju Business Daily, bookings for group tours to China on a local online travel platform increased by 91 percent from Nov 1 to 5. South Korean airlines are also actively expanding their routes to China. Asiana Airlines has increased its Incheon-Beijing flights from 14 per week to 20.

Data shows that in the third quarter of this year, more than 8.1 million foreign nationals entered China, up 48.8 percent year on year. Among them, more than 4.8 million entered through visa-free entry, a yearly increase of over 78 percent.

More global tourists interested in China following visa-free expansion