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A Hero’s Welcome for Mavi Marmara in Turkey

Al-Manar – 26/12/2010

A Turkish ferry which was the target of a deadly raid by Israeli commandos when it tried to deliver aid to Gaza received a rapturous welcome from thousands on Sunday as it arrived back in Istanbul.

Crowds waving Turkish and Palestinian flags lined the quayside as the Mavi Marmara docked at Istanbul’s Sarayburnu following a lengthy refit in a port along the Mediterranean.

They watched the ferry berth nearly seven months after the dramatic raid which left nine Turkish activists dead and triggered a major diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Tel Aviv. The ferry had been trying to deliver aid supplies to Palestinians living in besieged Gaza.

According to the ferry’s owner, a Turkish campaign group called IHH, the Mavi Marmara will be part of a new flotilla which will leave for Gaza on May 31, 2011, exactly one year on from the deadly raid.

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country was still awaiting an Israeli apology for the assault, and that this was the only way to turn the page on a year of deteriorating relations with Israel.

Relations had been already strained before the raid because of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza launched in December 2008.

December 26, 2010 - Posted by | Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes

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