Jigs
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Turkey dismisses Israeli probe into raid, warns it may revise ties - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
Monday, June 14, 2010
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey strongly dismissed Monday a commission established by Israel to investigate the deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship and warned it may revise bilateral ties with Israel if a U.N.-led inquiry is not launched.
The crime was committed in international waters, not in Israeli territorial waters or on the Israeli border. A commission to investigate an attack in international waters should have an international character, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told a joint news conference with his Senegalese counterpart.
International participation in a commission set up by Israel will not give it in international character, he said. We have no faith in Israel launching an impartial probe as it was they who attacked a civilian convoy in international waters and violated international law.
Turkey insists on a U.N.-led, independent, international commission that includes both Turkey and Israel, said Davutoğlu. Eight Turks and an American of Turkish origin were killed as a result of the Israeli raid on the aid convoy May 31.
Noting that one of the victims of the Israeli attack was a U.S. national, Davutoğlu said, We believe the United States will follow its own citizens right to life.
A unilateral probe conducted by Israel will have no value for us, the Turkish foreign minister added. This commission must certainly be an international commission. A defendant acting simultaneously as both prosecutor and judge is not compatible with any principle of law.
Davutoğlu said the European foreign ministers with whom he discussed the matter had extended their full support to Turkeys request for an international commission.
On Sunday, Israels deputy prime minister said in an interview that the Israeli commission will include international participation. Retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel will chair the commission, which will also include a professor of international law, Shabtai Rosen, the winner of the Israel Prize for jurisprudence and the Hague Prize for International Law; and former Technion President Maj. Gen. Amos Horev, a written statement released by the Israeli Embassy in Ankara said.
Washington welcomed the move as an important step forward, urging a prompt investigation.
If an international commission is not set up and if Turkeys rightful demands continue to be disregarded, Turkey has the right to unilaterally review ties with Israel and implement sanctions, Davutoğlu said, adding that Ankara is waiting patiently for the international community to take action in an objective manner.
Otherwise, there might be measures that we could take, he said.
The raid on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza plunged already-strained ties between NATO member Turkey and Israel, once close allies, into deep crisis. Ankara recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and said bilateral ties would be reduced to a minimum level.
Monday, June 14, 2010
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey strongly dismissed Monday a commission established by Israel to investigate the deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship and warned it may revise bilateral ties with Israel if a U.N.-led inquiry is not launched.
The crime was committed in international waters, not in Israeli territorial waters or on the Israeli border. A commission to investigate an attack in international waters should have an international character, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told a joint news conference with his Senegalese counterpart.
International participation in a commission set up by Israel will not give it in international character, he said. We have no faith in Israel launching an impartial probe as it was they who attacked a civilian convoy in international waters and violated international law.
Turkey insists on a U.N.-led, independent, international commission that includes both Turkey and Israel, said Davutoğlu. Eight Turks and an American of Turkish origin were killed as a result of the Israeli raid on the aid convoy May 31.
Noting that one of the victims of the Israeli attack was a U.S. national, Davutoğlu said, We believe the United States will follow its own citizens right to life.
A unilateral probe conducted by Israel will have no value for us, the Turkish foreign minister added. This commission must certainly be an international commission. A defendant acting simultaneously as both prosecutor and judge is not compatible with any principle of law.
Davutoğlu said the European foreign ministers with whom he discussed the matter had extended their full support to Turkeys request for an international commission.
On Sunday, Israels deputy prime minister said in an interview that the Israeli commission will include international participation. Retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel will chair the commission, which will also include a professor of international law, Shabtai Rosen, the winner of the Israel Prize for jurisprudence and the Hague Prize for International Law; and former Technion President Maj. Gen. Amos Horev, a written statement released by the Israeli Embassy in Ankara said.
Washington welcomed the move as an important step forward, urging a prompt investigation.
If an international commission is not set up and if Turkeys rightful demands continue to be disregarded, Turkey has the right to unilaterally review ties with Israel and implement sanctions, Davutoğlu said, adding that Ankara is waiting patiently for the international community to take action in an objective manner.
Otherwise, there might be measures that we could take, he said.
The raid on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza plunged already-strained ties between NATO member Turkey and Israel, once close allies, into deep crisis. Ankara recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and said bilateral ties would be reduced to a minimum level.
