SERBIA: Turkish prime minister renews his call for an Israeli apology for a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship while on an official visit to Serbia

Record ID: 217524

  • Title: SERBIA: Turkish prime minister renews his call for an Israeli apology for a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship while on an official visit to Serbia
  • Date: 13th July 2010
  • Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (JULY 12, 2010) (REUTERS) GUARD OF HONOR VARIOUS TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER MIRKO CVETKOVIC LISTENING TO SERBIAN AND TURKISH NATIONAL ANTHEMS VARIOUS ERDOGAN AND CVETKOVIC REVIEWING GUARD OF HONOR
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Serbia
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QSS043V2HQZN3SA0J6MXYFDW
  • Story Text: Turkey will continue to seek an apology and compensation for the victims of an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkey's prime minister said on Monday (July 12) during an official visit to Serbia.
    Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade after inspecting a guard-of-honour with Serbian prime minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan also demanded the lifting of the Gaza blockade.
    "This is an inhuman act, simply we can call it an act of piracy and a raid, that's why we expect and request an apology from Israel, also we wish that compensation should be paid to the families of those killed, and as a third, finally to see the doors towards the Gaza strip to be opened, and the blockade to be lifted, because it's in the charter of human rights, these are our demands, and we will stick to our demands till the end," he said.
    The Israeli navy stormed an aid flotilla heading for Gaza on May 31, killing eight Turks and a Turkish-American on board a Turkish ship. Israel said its commandos acted in self-defence.
    Erdogan's comments came a few hours before an official Israeli report was issued into the incident by a military commission led by Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli general. A civilian panel is conducting a separate investigation into the interception.
    Israel has said it has no intention of issuing a formal apology to Turkey and has rejected calls for an international inquiry.
    Once close relations between Israel and Turkey, both U.S. allies, have been on a downward spiral since Erdogan spoke out against an Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008. They soured further after the Israeli raid on the aid ship.
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