Turkey tries Israeli officers over flotilla raid
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E-mail Xinhua, November 6, 2012
A Turkish court started a trial here Tuesday deliberating the role Israeli military officers played in a 2010 raid on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, which left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead.
More than 1,000 people gathered in a square in front to the Istanbul's Seventh High Criminal Court, shouting anti-Israeli slogans such as "Israelis commit crime," "Israeli will get retribution," and "Liberate Gaza."
An indictment prepared by Istanbul Specially Authorized Prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci last summer seeks 10 aggravated life sentences for each of four top Israeli commanders, including former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Naval Forces commander Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom, Israel's military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin and Air Forces Intelligence head Brig. Gen. Avishai Levi, involved in the 2010 Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Lawyer Gulden Sonmez, who was also on board the Mavi Marmara, said that her "expectation is that justice will be served and the four Israeli generals will be convicted."
Stating that as complainants they want to "set a precedent with this trial and damage the status of Israel, which is a country that cannot be held accountable for its unlawful actions."
Huseyin Oruc, vice president of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), which was the owner and operator of the Mavi Marmara flotilla, said "Turkey is the first country in the world that will take the unlawful Israeli actions to court."
Ozdem Sanberk, who served on the UN committee investigating the Mavi Marmara incident, said "The decisions of the court could be binding in Turkey although one cannot comment before the final verdict is made."
The 144-page indictment mentions 10 "slain Turks," which includes Suleyman Soylemez, who was among those injured in the raid and who is still in a vegetative state. It also mentions 490 victims and complainants, including 189 people who were injured in the attacks.
Eight Turkish nationals and one Turkish-American were killed when the Israeli Navy attacked an international aid flotilla trying to break an Israeli blockade of Gaza in May 2010.
Following the attack, Israel's government set up the Turkel Commission, a commission of inquiry headed by Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, to investigate the attack.
Turkish leaders dismissed the Israeli investigation, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also repeated the demand for an independent investigation, stating that the Israeli investigation would not have international credibility.
Turkey also established an inquiry, which concluded, in contrast to the Israeli one, that the Gaza blockade and the Israeli raid are illegal; and Ankara described the raid as a violation of international law "tantamount to banditry and piracy" and described the killings of activists as "state-sponsored terrorism."
Concerning the Israeli inquiry, Turkey said its own commission was "surprised, appalled and dismayed that the national inquiry process in Israel has resulted in the exoneration of the Israeli armed forces."
Ankara wants an official apology from Israel for the raid and calls for the lifting of the Gaza blockade, but both demands have been rejected by the Israeli government so far.
With tensions increased, Turkey has expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended military agreements it had with the Israelis.
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