Israel sees pressure on Turkey to stop Mavi Marmara trial

Trial is against 4 Israeli commanders who allegedly killed nine Turkish activists in a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound ship.


Afp May 28, 2012

JERUSALEM: Israel expects foreign diplomatic pressure on Turkey to stop it trying four Israeli commanders over the killing of nine Turkish activists in a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound ship.

"I imagine that diplomatic pressure will be put on Turkey to withdraw this action... foreign not Israeli," deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, told state-run Channel One TV on Monday.

An Istanbul court has unanimously approved an indictment by Turkish prosecutors, who want life sentences for the Israelis for their alleged role in the deadly maritime assault, Turkey's Anatolia new agency said on Monday.

"This could have wide-ranging implications for Nato and US forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere," Ayalon said.

"For years American and other Western forces have been boarding ships suspected either of terror activity or carrying radioactive materials so that the implications are such that I imagine there will be diplomatic pressure on Turkey," he added.

Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel's Gaza blockade, on May 31, 2010, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.

The 144-page indictment called for nine life sentences to be given to each of four Israeli commanders, including former armed forces chief Gabi Ashkenazi.

The date for the trial is not yet announced, but it would be held in the absence of the accused, Israel having ruled out any prosecution of those who took part in the attack.

COMMENTS (5)

j. von hettlingen | 11 years ago | Reply

If Israel respects the rule of law, it should let the trial go ahead. Firstly the accused are not in Turkey and can't be taken into custody. Secondly they will not travel to Turkey to stand trial. Would they be sentenced in absentia, Israel doesn't have to recognise the verdict and have it implemented. Yet the trial and the verdict are important - out of symbolic point of view - for Turkey to overcome this tragic incident..

L | 11 years ago | Reply

Turkey doesnt need NATO what so ever, in fact they're in fact starting to forge alliances throughout the middle east. This is where Turkey will gain their strength and recall its great legacy Ottoman powers once again.

The founder of Turkey is nothing more than a puppet which the British government has placed and he's vision of Turkey will always be rejected by the mass and it has also proven a dramatic failure in the past. The current government is in fact making Turkey more stronger in terms of military and economic.

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