ISRAEL: Representatives of the Turkish Red Cross arrive to check condition of injured activists

Record ID: 396013

  • Title: ISRAEL: Representatives of the Turkish Red Cross arrive to check condition of injured activists
  • Date: 2nd June 2010
  • Summary: BEN GURION AIRPORT, LOD, ISRAEL (JUNE 1, 2010) (REUTERS) PEOPLE AT BEN GURION AIRPORT ARRIVAL HALL INFORMATION BOARD SHOWING FLIGHT ARRIVALS RED CRESCENT REPRESENTATIVES ARRIVING ON FLIGHT FROM ISTANBUL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALI ARKUL, TURKISH RED CRESCENT REPRESENTATIVE, SAYING: "We came here to work with the Magen David Adom (Israeli emergency service) to facilitate
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA93IJVC9MRJMW2W9J24SCSR277
  • Story Text: Representatives of Turkey's Red Cross arrived in Israel on Tuesday (June 1) to examine its wounded from the bloody flotilla incident.
    "We came here to work with the Magen David Adom (Israeli emergency service) to facilitate the evacuation process," said Ali Arkul, a Turkish representative upon arrival at Ben Gurion International airport.
    Hundreds of international activists were arrested aboard Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza in a naval operation that left 9 people dead and around 20 wounded. Most of the dead were Turks, one senior Israeli officer said.
    "They came in coordination with the Turkish embassy to inspect the injured and see about transfer possibilities, to return some of them and humanitarian activity," Dudi Abadi, Red Cross Co-Ordinator for Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service told reporters at the air port.
    European nations, as well as the United Nations and Turkey, voiced shock and outrage at the bloody end to the international campaigners' bid to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
    Boarding from dinghies and rappelling from helicopters, naval commandos stopped six ships, 700 people and 10,000 tonnes of supplies from reaching the Islamist-run Palestinian enclave -- but bloody miscalculation left Israel isolated and condemned.
    Once-close Muslim ally Turkey accused it of "terrorism" in international waters. The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session. The European Union, a key aid donor to Palestinians, demanded an independent inquiry and an end to the Gaza embargo.
    Israel's most powerful friend, the United States, was more cautious, disappointing Turkey. But President Barack Obama said he wanted the full facts soon and regretted the loss of life.
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also voiced regret as he cut short a visit to Canada and rang Obama to call off a White House meeting that had been planned for Tuesday.
    For all his regret, he vowed to maintain a three-year-old embargo to stop Iranian-backed Hamas from bringing arms to Gaza.
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "What Israel has committed on board the Freedom Flotilla was a massacre."
    Israeli military officials said nine activists died on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish cruise ship carrying nearly 600 people.
    The bloodshed sparked street protests and government ire in Turkey, long Israel's lone Muslim ally in the region.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register