Turkey to press for UN commission to probe Freedom Flotilla siege
15:50 02/06/2010
ANKARA, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday his country would begin talks with the UN on establishing an international commission to probe Israel's attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy.
The Israeli military stormed on Monday the Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid and up to 700 human rights activists to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. At least nine activists, four of them Turks, were killed when Israeli commandos dropped on board from helicopters and opened fire. Arab media reports have put the death toll at close to 20.
"All countries are equal in the eyes of international law, no one has the right to put themselves above others," Davutoglu told journalists, adding that Israel should lift its blockade on Gaza.
Israel said the blockade and the country's attempts to prevent it being breached are "an act of self-defense in the face of Hamas' continuing aggression."
A total of 400 Turkish nationals were onboard the aid ships, 210 of them have already been released by Israel and will be flown to Turkey soon.
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