TOP TURKISH DIPLOMAT SAYS ISRAEL'S "UNLAWFUL" ACTS MUST END

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. (A.A) - 02.06.2010 - Turkey's foreign minister said Tuesday necessary steps should be taken to make sure that Israel quit breaching international law.
"We want an end to Israel's all acts against international norms and laws," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters after a series of meetings with U.S. officials, including State Secretary Hillary Clinton amid heightened reactions to an Israeli storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
The predawn raid by Israeli navy commandos on the Mediterranean flotilla killed nine activists -- at least four of them are Turks -- and wounded many others.
The six ships of the flotilla were towed to an Israeli port and over 500 activists were put in a prison in Be'er Sheva.
"We want all Turkish nationals to be released and return to Turkey safely. We have no consent that a single Turkish citizen stays in Israel and we will not let any of them be interrogated or court tried by Israeli authorities, who have no such right," Davutoglu said.
"If there is to be any interrogation or trial, then it must be the Israeli authorities to face it for conducting this unlawful act of piracy. And this is what we have told the U.S. officials," Davutoglu said.
The Turkish foreign minister said the UN Security Council had adopted a presidential statement after hours of discussion in an emergency session condemning the Israeli raid, adding that the statement was the strongest one on an issue concerning Israel.
Davutoglu said Israel had failed to act promptly over Turkey's demand for immediate release of the Gaza activists.  
Davutoglu said U.S. officials had pledged to exert best of their efforts to make sure that Turkey's demands were met.
"We cannot settle for mere apologies. We have conveyed our demand to the U.S. officials for the establishment of an independent international committee to investigate into the Israeli aggression," Davutoglu said.
"We will not be satisfied with an investigation that would be conducted by Israel only, which we think would not be healthy. The aggression happened in international waters and it is the task of the international authorities to investigate the attack," Davutoglu said. 
"No one should doubt that Turkey is able to protect the rights of its citizens in any part of the world. No one should test Turkey's determination on this," he said.  
(İMB-MS)