Turkey slams Israel, calls for apology

Istanbul: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeated his country's demand for an Israeli apology over the 2010 Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

Erdogan demanded the apology in a two-day conference of the Palestinian envoys and the Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Xinhua reported.

"Until we receive an official apology for the nine Turkish citizens killed, until the families of those victims are compensated and until the blockade on Gaza is lifted, relations between our countries will not normalize," Erdogan said.

The Israeli military attacked the Gaza-bound relief aid convoy Freedom Flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, killing nine Turkish citizens onboard the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring at least 50 other activists who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Moreover, the main aim of the conference is to rally international support for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the forthcoming UN meeting in September.

"We are going to the United Nations because we are forced to, it is not a unilateral action," Abbas said. "What is unilateral is Israeli settlement."

More than 100 countries have so far officially recognized Palestine as a state based on the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured and annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel's Foreign Ministry launched a global campaign in early June, to thwart the Palestinian move to seek statehood recognition.

Israeli diplomats have been instructed to lobby highest possible officials in their respective countries and muster support for a vote against the recognition of a Palestinian state.
 

 Tweet

Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Yeddyurappa fast running out of options

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's options to stay on in power are dwindling, with the Lokayukta naming him in the report on illegal mining and police beginning to probe corruption cases against him.   »

Illegal mining: 8 politicos, 500 officials and Rs.18 bn loss

Yeddyurappa, others named in illegal mining report: Santosh Hegde

  Most Read

'Catastrophic' twin attacks kill 87 in Norway

At least 87 people were killed Friday in "catastrophic" twin attacks in Norway - a massive bomb explosion in the capital here and a shooting at a governing Labour Party youth camp, police said. This is the   »

Shutdown over alleged rape affects life in Kashmir

Normal life across Kashmir Valley was affected Saturday following a shutdown called by separatists against the alleged abduction and rape of a woman by army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's  »

Army orders probe into Kashmir abduction, rape allegation

  News Pick

Communal and targeted Violence Bill: A step in right direction

Steven Wilkinson, a US based Scholar who has been studying communal violence in India has concluded that since independence, the  »

Lokpal bill ready to be tabled in parliament

The anti-graft Lokpal bill is ready to be tabled in the monsoon session of parliament beginning Aug 1 and will be presented to the cabinet next week, the government said Friday. "The Lokpal bill is ready. It will be placed before  »

Deemed universities: Apex court denies government more time

The Supreme Court Friday declined the central government's plea for more time to complete the scrutiny of responses from 44 deemed universities threatened with the prospect of de-recognition. However, the court allowed  »

Islamic Finance : Separating myth from reality

Over the past decade, Islamic Finance has become a burning and topical issue around the world (Europe, Middle East and Asia) and has most recently  »

Picture of the Day

Jamia Millia Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jang conferring the title 'Nishan-e-Azad' on Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Faisal Hasan Trad on July 20, 2011.