Erdogan Slams Aid Group for Undermining Deal with ’Israel’

Local Editor

With a reconciliation deal between Turkey and the "Israeli" apartheid entity finalized, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has for the first time lambasted the organizers of the 2010 Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Speaking in Ankara late Wednesday, Erdogan said the flotilla organizers at the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation [IHH] did not ask for permission from him back when he was the prime minister.

"Did you ask me before you set sail? Did you ask my permission," said Erdogan, who had long made the entity's lifting of a siege on Gaza a precondition for resuming ties.

The flotilla incident triggered years of tension between Ankara and Tel Aviv, with the two sides announcing a restoration of their ties only this week after Turkey apparently dropped its conditions.

Erdogan's criticism of the aid flotilla came hours after the "Israeli" apartheid regime's cabinet approved the agreement to restore relations with Turkey following a six-year rupture.

The IHH had complained in recent days that the reconciliation deal was tantamount to acceptance of "Israel's" blockade on Gaza.

"We were already delivering the same amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza, but without making an appearance," said Erdogan.

"Now we have ‘Israel's' promise, all aid supplies to Gaza will be permitted from now on," he added.

However, in the Gaza Strip where about 1.8 million Palestinians had been under a crippling "Israeli" blockade for years, residents view the Turkish deal with the "Israeli" entity is "unfair" toward the Palestinian people.

Close relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv soured after "Israeli" commandos raided the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turkish citizens and injuring about 50 other people. A tenth Turkish national later succumbed to his injuries.

Netanyahu and some "Israeli" officials had defended the accord, saying it will have a positive impact on the economy and raise the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals for the regime.

Under the deal, "Israel's" blockade on the Gaza Strip will remain in place, but the regime is obliged to pay USD 20 million in compensation to the families of the Turkish activists killed in the Gaza aid vessel incident.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team