Turkey’s Clash With Israel Warrants a U.S. Reassessment: View

[Purveyor]

By the Editor

Turkey has been a close ally of the West for 60 years. But its reaction to an evenhanded United Nations report on the May 31, 2010, flotilla clash should raise serious concerns about its broader shift in direction.

This change became obvious when Israeli naval commandos enforced their government’s blockade of Gaza by boarding a mainly Turkish flotilla of six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and non-military supplies. The flotilla was organized by the Turkish humanitarian organization Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri, which Israel has alleged to have ties to Hamas, the terrorist organization that is the de-facto government in Gaza. Nine people aboard the flotilla -- eight Turks and a Turkish-American -- were killed. UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon established a Panel of Inquiry and asked it to examine the facts and recommend ways to avoid similar conflicts.

The UN has a well-deserved reputation for being biased against Israel. Not surprisingly, Israel originally opposed a UN inquiry and threatened not to cooperate. Turkey welcomed it. To his credit, Ban appointed a prominent, unbiased panel that included Turkish and Israeli representatives.

On Sept. 2 the commission released a balanced report that sided with Israel on most major points. The panel found that the Israeli blockade of Gaza was a “legitimate security measure,” and that “there exist serious questions about the conduct, true nature, and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly IHH.” The Israeli commandos used force for their own protection after they faced “significant, organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers,” but that forcibly boarding the vessels without warning was “excessive and unreasonable” and the loss of life was “unacceptable.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/turkey-s-clash-with-israel-warrants-a-real-u-s-policy-reassessment-view.html