Turkey wants Israel to apologize for the killings during Gaza-bound aid flotilla incident

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey will never forget the nine Turks killed when Israeli troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, days before the submission of a U.N. report on the raid last year, Reuters reports.

In a speech to a conference of foreign ambassadors to the Palestinian territories in Istanbul, Erdogan condemned the continuing blockade of Gaza as "illegal and inhuman" and said the Palestinians' troubles were Turkey's troubles and would not go neglected.

Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel after the incident in May 2010, suspended military cooperation, and closed its airspace to Israeli military aircraft.

It wants Israel to apologize for the killings, pay compensation to the families, and end the embargo of Gaza.

For its part, Israel has agreed in principle to pay compensation, but says its marines acted in self-defense after an initial boarding party was attacked with knives and clubs.

The United States would like its two allies to be friends again. But even if they reach closure on the Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey's sympathy for the Palestinian cause and readiness to engage Hamas will mean the relationship will not be free of tension.

Turkey's ties with Israel hit a nadir over the Mavi Marmara incident, but they first soured after Erdogan's public criticism of Israeli president Shimon Peres over an Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2009.

That outburst made Erdogan a hero on the Arab Street, and brought Turkey newfound respect in the region.