KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has sought the assistance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to repatriate Malaysian volunteers in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) mission who have been detained by Israeli forces.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the request was made following positive developments from diplomatic discussions with several key world leaders, including Erdogan, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“I have requested the good offices of President Erdogan to, if possible, bring our (Malaysian) volunteers from any location around Israel to Istanbul on a special Turkish aircraft that will be carrying his own citizens.

“From Istanbul, insya-Allah, we will bring our Malaysians home. Several preliminary understandings have been reached since this morning,” he said.

He told reporters this after performing Friday prayers at Al-Khadijah Mosque, Jalan Pantai Sentral 2, in Lembah Pantai today.

Anwar said Malaysia’s close relations with the United States, Qatar and Turkiye had greatly assisted efforts to secure the release of the volunteers, a fact acknowledged by Turkiye’s National Security Chief Dr Ibrahim Kalin.

He said that although Malaysia has no ties with the Zionist regime of Israel, diplomatic channels with friendly nations had played a crucial role in managing the matter.