Turkey Expels Israeli Envoy, Threatens Lawsuit Over Flotilla Deaths

Israel Rules Out Apologizing for Killing Aid Workers

Fresh off of yesterday’s leaking of the UN report on the Mavi Marmara flotilla killings, the Turkish government has expelled Israel’s ambassador and is suggesting further legal measures are in the offing.

The report, though claiming that the Israeli blockade of humanitarian goods from the strip was legal, also termed the killing of aid workers “excessive and unreasonable.” The release had been repeatedly delayed to allow Israel and Turkey to get their stories straight, something that never happened.

Turkish officials in the US say that the government is now pondering legal action against the Israeli soldiers and all officials involved in the attack, promising to “pursue the matter resolutely.”

Israeli officials shrugged off the move, and say they will never apologize for the killing of the aid workers, which they termed “actions of self defense.” The attack killed nine aid workers, eight of them Turkish and one a Turkish-American.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.