25/09/2010 13:09
Turkey waits for apology from Israel over Gaza raid, says Gul
Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul said Friday in his address to the United Nations that Turkey is still waiting for an apology from Israel over the Gaza flotilla raid.
Gul said that he still expects Israel to pay monetary compensation to the families of those killed in the raid.
"In the light of international law, Turkey's expectation is a formal apology and compensation for the aggrieved families of the victims and the injured people," Gul said. In separate remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations he also said: “I must emphasize that Turkey and Israel are friends. There are strong, centuries-old ties of friendships between our people, and Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Israel in 1949.”
Gul’s comments came two days after a United Nations Human Rights panel of inquiry said Israel’s May 31 efforts to stop a flotilla of ships from reaching the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip broke international human rights and humanitarian law.