Turkey FM: Only Israel is responsible for Gaza flotilla deaths
Turkey wants Israel to apologize and offer compensation to families of 9 Turkish activists who were killed when Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid ship on May 31.
By Reuters Tags: Turkey Israel Turkey Gaza flotillaIsrael should admit sole responsibility for the killing of nine activists during a raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks during a news conference in Oslo June 15, 2010. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
A United Nations inquiry into the Israeli commando raid on A Turkish aid convoy on May 31, which resulted in the deaths of nine activists, was due to meet for the first time later in the day. The killing of the activists, all Turks, although one was a U.S. citizen, almost caused a breakdown in relations between Israel and its once close ally.
"No one else can take the blame for killing civilians in international waters," Davutoglu told journalists. "Israel has killed civilians, and should take the responsibility for having done so."
The Turkish minister appeared to be responding to remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday when he testified before an Israeli commission of inquiry into the same May 31 incident.
Netanyahu said Turkey had ignored repeated warnings and appeals "at the highest level" to halt the flotilla, which was organized by an Islamic charity based in Turkey.
"Turkey has no responsibility in the attack on the flotilla," Davutoglu said.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the same inquiry panel, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel, that Israel had exhausted all other options before carrying out the raid.
Turkey withdrew its ambassador after the raid and called off joint military exercises, but stopped short of breaking diplomatic ties completely. It wants Israel to apologize and offer compensation to the victims' families.
Israel says its commandos opened fire after activists attacked a boarding party with clubs and knives, wounding several.
Relations between Turkey and Israel began deteriorating after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned an Israeli offensive in Gaza in December, 2008, and criticized the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said the blockade was necessary to stop arms reaching the Islamist Hamas group running Gaza. After an international outcry over the raid on the aid convoy, Israel relaxed the embargo.
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Turkey deliberately avoids its own role in teh gaza flottila, from sponsoring the ship to allowing known extremists to board , to not searching for weapons. Turkey will soon have the opportunity to explain itself to the Un Commission. I cant wait. That will wipem teh smilem of their faces
and for sending the flotila to Israel.
The sole responsibility for the episode of the flotilla lies on Turkey, and compensation was paid in advance by Mahmoud and Nasrallah...
Turkey should apologize. They are the ones who set up this pathetic scheme. Turkey is aiming for the leadership of extreme islamism. What is happening in this country should be a huge concern to the western world.
It is anti-Semitic, it bashes Israel on a daily basis, and Israel can't trust the cooperation in security and military matters, because its intelligence chief is a buddy of the Iranians. Why not assuming that Turkey is lost for the cause of peace and decency, and continue the trekking through this decade without this stinking load of cynicism?
Is "stuff it" an appropriate thing to say to the FM of Turkey?
He's a nice man but......
Why would they allow militants to go on the Flotilla? Turkey is becoming more and more fundamentlist and it is very worrying.
Why would they allow militants to go on the Flotilla? Turkey is becoming more and more fundamentlist and it is very worrying.
why did they allow this flotilla to sail in the 1st place knowing all that would come of it is tragedy - they knew some of the boast planned on confronting navy/army - how oftern does a group of people comnfronting soldiers comes out peacefully? what a dumb Prime Minster Turkey has (what a perfetc name for a country - "turkey"
The crux of the matter and so it shall remain.
IDF responded to their violent behavior as a matter of self-defense. NO apologies, or compensation justified in this case. This is war, and someday the Arab militants who seek to destroy Israel will realize they can't win.
Obviously the flotilla was meant as a provocation to Israel. Still, there was nobody aboard the flotilla that expected to be killed in a fight with the IDF. If that was the case, they would have brought some better weapons. Is killing people the only way in which Israel can respond to a non-lethal provocation? History shows us that Israel and Israelis have routinely killed Arabs (and other goyim) that had simply annoyed them and suffered no consequence as a result. Everybody on that convoy should have understood that they were setting out to annoy Israel and therefore they were putting their lives on the line. Still, this doesn't excuse Israel for their usual thumb fingered handling of a crisis. Resorting to muggery and thuggery has become a trademark of Israel. Israel need not take responsibility for their handling of the flotilla unless they are serious about changing their image. As if...
take resposability for the armenian women and children you butchered.
Ahmet Davutoglu is like a rocking chair it gives him something to do and say even if it's a load of hogwash , but what he does not realise is the rocking chair doesn't get him anywhere it just rocks.........................
and you board a ship trying to run the blockade after having been warned to turn back, and you then violently attack the soldiers trying to stop you from doing it, which is legal even in international waters - you are neither neutral nor are you a non-combatant
1.5 million Armenian civilians who were mudered by the Turks. Oh excuse me Turkey is above the law. These Armenians were not terrorists or linked to terrorists. They were just people living their life. An Turk once told me that the Armenians are exagerating it wasn't close to 1.5m people he said. It more like 500,000 people he said. Like that really makes it better. The Turks are the biggest hypocrite on the planet. At least the Germans own up to the crime.