Turkey: Israel will pay the price for ‘pirate’ violence

Ankara already stated many times that a return to normal bilateral relations is conditional on concrete steps by Israel to end the months-long humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, long before Israeli commandos stormed a ship with 700 people on board who were accompanying five other vessels  carrying 10,000 tons of medical supplies, housing material and other aid to Gaza.

Yet Ankara appeared to have run out of patience after the move by Israeli naval forces, which Turkish officials labeled “piracy,” while the first official reaction came early Monday morning from the Foreign Ministry through a harshly worded statement of condemnation.

“Israel has once again clearly demonstrated that it does not value human lives and peaceful initiatives through targeting innocent civilians. We strongly condemn these inhuman acts of Israel. This grave incident which took place in high seas in gross violation of international law might cause irreversible consequences in our relations,” the ministry said, highlighting that Turkey “protests in the strongest terms the use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces against the civilians from many countries who want to transport humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza.”

“Whatever the motives might be, such actions against civilians who are involved only in peaceful activities cannot be accepted. Israel will have to bear the consequences of these actions which constitute a violation of international law,” the ministry said.

Turkey also announced that it was withdrawing its ambassador to Israel, canceling three joint military drills and calling on the UN Security Council to convene in an emergency session about Israel.

While hectic diplomatic activity was conducted in Ankara, with Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy summoned to the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cut short an official visit to Latin America and was on his way home. Similarly, Chief of the Turkish General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ cut short an official visit to Egypt and was on his way to Turkey.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was accompanying Erdoğan in Latin America and was supposed to travel to Washington for talks with US officials on a fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil with Iran, changed his plans and headed to New York to participate in an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council concerning the recent developments. Turkey is a non-permanent member of the council.

‘Send back injured ones, passengers; release ships’

Turkey’s demand of a detailed report on the incident, which includes information about passengers on the convoy -- that consists of citizens of 32 different countries including Turkey -- was verbally conveyed to Ambassador Levy by Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz, the deputy undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry.

Çeviköz also told Levy that Turkey expects to receive those injured as soon as possible in order for them to receive medical treatment here.

“We also expect the other passengers to be sent to their home countries as soon as possible exactly as we were told earlier [by Israeli officials],” Çeviköz told Levy, underlining once more the illegality of Israel’s confiscation of the ships in international waters and urging the immediate release of the ships.

“In response to what happened concerning said attacks, we reserve our rights, which stem from international law,” Çeviköz said.

Speaking at a press conference after chairing an emergency meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç called the Israeli attack “piracy,” while denying Israeli statements that some on the ships headed for the Gaza Strip were armed and had attacked Israeli soldiers.

Arınç stated that there would be no immediate action on the country’s defense cooperation with Israel.

Three of the ships were sailing under Turkish flags, including the main passenger ship, and the convoy was led by the Turkey-based Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), a pro-Islamic Turkish aid group. Arınç said about 400 of the 581 passengers on the main ship, the Mavi Marmara, were Turks.

“I strongly condemn the use of force by Israeli military forces on an aid convoy,” he said. “This attack must not remain unanswered. “

“We are calling back our ambassador today,” he said. “We have also cancelled three military drills with Israel as well as calling back our under-18 soccer team from Israel.”

He ruled out deploying Turkish warships to the Mediterranean. Two of the cancelled military drills were search and rescue exercises in the Mediterranean, and the third was a drill in Israel later this year.

He insisted that the Turkish government was not involved in the organization of the flotilla, saying it was coordinated by nongovernmental organizations.

But he disputed reports that the Israelis only opened fire after being attacked by activists with sticks, knives and live fire from weapons seized from Israeli commandos.

“Israel might be trying to defend itself or justify its actions,” Arınç said. “What we know is that the ships were totally unarmed and set sail for humanitarian purposes.”

Mobilizing international community

The ambassadors of EU member countries, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries and UN Security Council countries accredited to Ankara were, meanwhile, invited to the Foreign Ministry. Separate groups of ambassadors were each briefed by a deputy undersecretary both concerning the incident and reasons behind Turkey’s reaction to the incident -- in particular its call on the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting.

Turkey cannot remain indifferent to this issue, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu told state-run broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), as his plane refueled on an island en route from Brazil to New York.

Calling those people who were killed by Israeli forces “martyrs,” Davutoğlu said he would personally discuss the issue with the UN secretary-general in New York. Noting that Turkey has been in contact with other countries whose citizens were on board the attacked ship, Davutoğlu said he was personally in contact with the foreign ministers of these countries.

Davutoğlu said that this is an international civilian initiative, adding that Turkey would raise the issue at several international platforms.

“No matter how it happened, this was an action of piracy even if only one person had been injured,” Davutoğlu said, stressing that Israel’s actions have been hurting the conscience of humanity as a whole.

“We hope that they take the necessary lessons from this. I want to stress once more that no country is above international law. Nobody can justify such an attack launched by any country against any other country’s citizens. Additionally, [nobody] can justify the blockade of Gaza, either. The blockade of Gaza is illegal, and it is not legitimate, either, from an international standpoint.”