This footage actually shows a boat parade by fans of the Turkish football club Galatasaray in Istanbul in May 2025.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is a fleet of several dozen civilian vessels that set sail from Spain in late August with activists aboard who hope to deliver aid to Gaza. Against this backdrop, a video of multiple boats travelling in the same direction across a large body of water, some with flags attached is going viral on social media with the claim that it shows the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing toward Gaza.
The caption states, “Global Sumud Flotilla, more than 50 boats carrying activists from 44 countries are heading towards Gaza to break the illegal siege, the largest civilian flotilla ever in modern history”.
Fact Check-
By performing a reverse image search on Google, we found that this video is uploaded on TikTok on 26 May with captions referencing “Champion” and “Galatasaray.” nearly three months before the Global Sumud Flotilla first departed Spain. The footage actually shows a boat parade by fans of the Turkish football club Galatasaray in Istanbul in May 2025, celebrating the team’s 25th Turkish Süper Lig title.
Galatasaray’s official Twitter account shared on 25 May, an aerial footage of a boat parade featuring boats flying the club’s colours.
Multiple sources verify the Galatasaray celebration took place on May 25-26, 2025. According to Getty Images, fans joined a yacht parade across the Bosphorus from Sarayburnu to Yenikapı, complete with flags, chants, and flares.
The official YouTube account of Galatasaray, also uploaded a different version of the same boat procession on 26 May, confirming that the video was from the championship celebrations.
The celebrations were covered by OneFootball and Daily Sabah with reports of hundreds of boats accompanying Galatasaray’s team yacht across the Bosphorus.
While the viral video circulating on social media does not show a legitimate flotilla to Gaza, there are genuine humanitarian maritime efforts underway that face significant challenges and opposition.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. This footage actually shows a boat parade by fans of the Turkish football club Galatasaray in Istanbul in May 2025.
Title:Viral video of Turkish football celebration falsely shared as Gaza aid flotilla
Fact Check By: Usha ManojResult: Misleading
