American activist aboard Gaza aid flotilla says he always felt Turkish people's support for Palestine

An American activist who was aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla said he has always felt the Turkish people's support for Palestine.

"I was in Türkiye one and a half years ago and I met many people who were speaking to me about this. I could feel the love and the care and the solidarity with the people of Palestine and I really appreciate this," Windfield Beaver told Anadolu after his arrival in Istanbul on Saturday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail late August seeking to provide aid to Gaza but Israel attacked the boats earlier this week, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.

Of that number, 137 activists flew into Istanbul on a specially-chartered Turkish Airlines plane on Saturday.

Calling his journey to Gaza "incredible," Beaver noted the solidarity among the participants of the flotilla. "We knew we were sailing towards an Israeli prison or violence.

"But the solidarity that we felt and the dedication that we shared on that journey was incredible."

Beaver said the government of his country, the US, "is very complicit" in the Gaza genocide, adding that Washington "affords all of the weapons to Israel to slaughter Palestinians."

He said the camaraderie with the Turkish participants in the flotilla was "wonderful."

"To have a state actually act on our behalf was very reassuring and beautiful because my state did nothing. We had no visit from our embassy, no visit from consular services. We had no support from our government whatsoever," he added.

Expressing his appreciation for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the American activist said he expects any UN member state, "any state who believes in human rights to actually act, to intervene in Israel's genocide."

"On our mission, we were treated very badly by Israel. But because of the eyes of the world, they could not be so violent towards us. And so we were protected because of the support that we had as the flotilla from so many people around the world," added Beaver.