Thursday 29 September 2011

Turkey to escort Gaza aid ships amid row with Israel

The Muslim News
Elham Asaad Buaras

Recep Erdogan has said his country will escort aid ships travelling to Gaza

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said his country will in future escort aid ships travelling to the Gaza Strip.

Reacting to Israel's refusal to apologise and a UN report on last year's Gaza flotilla incident, which failed to condemn the killing of the nine Turkish activists, Erdogan said, "Turkish warships, in the first place, are authorized to protect our ships that carry humanitarian aid to Gaza…From now on, we will not let these ships be attacked by Israel, as happened with the Freedom Flotilla."

Turkish demands for an official apology from Israel and compensation for the families of the raid's victims have not been met. Israel has, however, downplayed the diplomatic standoff, saying relations with Turkey are strong enough to weather the current differences.


However, Turkish officials described the standoff as a serious crisis.

"We waited fifteen months for an Israeli apology, but it never came," said Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Selcuk Unal. "Throughout this period, we continued to consult with Israeli authorities and made our demands clear. But so far Israel has chosen to ignore our demands."

A UN report commissioned by the UN Secretary General to investigate this incident – The Palmer Report - was leaked on September [...]



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