29 June 2010 / SELIM KUVEL , ANKARA
Turkish and Israeli officials are still evaluating options on how to bring back to Turkey three Turkish ships that are currently being held at Israel’s Ashdod port, with one method under consideration the towing of the ships by tugboat.
Foreign Ministry officials from Turkey suggested bringing the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound ship that was raided by Israeli marines, the Gazze and the Defne-Y to a Turkish port, but Israeli official have not yet responded. If Israeli officials approve the method, two tugboats, one from İzmir’s Aliağa port and the other from İskenderun, will depart for Ashdod in three and one-and-a-half days, respectively.Turkish Foreign Ministry officials first suggested to Israeli officials that Turkey send crewmembers to Israel to move the ships from the Israeli port, but Israeli officials said that they would not allow entry into Israel of the same crewmembers who were present on the ships during the raid. Looking for new crewmembers, the Foreign Ministry has realized, has not been so easy, after the raid that killed eight Turkish citizens and one American and almost brought the two countries to the brink of war. Sources said that nobody wants to go to Israel after what happened during the raid.
