Turkey tells Israel to apologize or to agree to an int'l probe

“The recovery of relations is not possible as long as Israel doesn't apologize. They listened to our demands and said they would convey them to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Davutoğlu said late on Saturday, referring to his meeting with Israeli Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer which took place in Brussels last Wednesday.

“We haven’t set a deadline for the response. We’re waiting. If it [Israel] will not apologize, then it should accept an international commission and accede to its findings. It neither accepts an international commission nor offers an apology. There are three options ahead: it will either apologize or it will consent to a study by an international commission or the relations will break off,” he said, while speaking to a group of journalists on board a plane en route to Turkey from Kyrgyzstan, where he participated in an inauguration ceremony during which Kyrgyzstan’s provisional leader Roza Otunbayeva was sworn in as president earlier on Saturday.

“We have been following the studies of the fact-finding mission at UN; we will set a calendar accordingly,” Davutoğlu said, referring to the fact that the UN Human Rights Council, on June 18, decided to send a fact-finding mission “to investigate violations of international law resulting from Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance” on May 31. “Americans are trying to give the [internal] commission established by Israel a chance. We are objecting [to the internal commission] principally,” he said.

While welcoming the meeting between Davutoğlu and Ben-Eliezer, the US State Department said last Wednesday that US has spoken with each country about their relationship, without elaborating on the US involvement.

The talks in Brussels have come just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington for a meeting with US President Barack Obama. As of Friday, Netanyahu said Israel could not apologize for the raid, but stressed that he wanted to avoid further harm in relations with Ankara.

“Israel cannot apologize that its soldiers were forced to defend themselves against a mob that almost butchered them; they defended themselves from a lynch. We regret the loss of life,” Netanyahu said.

US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said on Thursday that he anticipated Netanyahu would give Obama “a report on the early stages of the Israeli investigation into the flotilla tragedy” and that the two would discuss “recent progress” on the Gaza Strip.

When reminded of efforts by third parties’ who want to contribute to the mending of bilateral relations between Israel and Turkey, Davutoğlu said: “We want to give a chance to those parties who attach importance to the recovery of relations. The meeting between Obama and Netanyahu on July 7 will be important regarding the process.”

The Israeli raid took place on the aid ship the Mavi Marmara, which was owned by a Turkish charity, the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH). Citing anonymous Turkish sources, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported on Saturday that Obama has told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that an international inquiry into the Israeli raid on the aid flotilla may hurt the Turks.

Obama told Erdoğan that “such an inquiry commission may lead to accusations against several passengers on the Mavi Marmara ship, or members of the İHH organization, and Turkey must know that its request could turn into a double-edged sword,” Ynetnews, an English-language Israeli news portal, reported, quoting al-Hayat report. The conversation between the two leaders took place on June 26 in Toronto on the sidelines of a G-20 summit, according to the reports.

Speaking on his way back from Bishkek, Davutoğlu, meanwhile, said Turkey was prepared for various worst-case scenarios regarding what the flotilla might face from Israeli forces, but did not expect any armed operation which would lead to the killings of people.