TURKEY THREATENS DIPLOMATIC BREAK WITH ISRAEL OVER RAID

Baku, July 5 (AzerTAc). Turkey has for the first time threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Turkey`s foreign minister said a break could only be averted if Israel either apologised or accepted the outcome of an international inquiry into the raid. The Israeli government said it had nothing to apologise for. Ankara curtailed diplomatic relations with Israel after the naval raid, in which nine Turks were killed.
Turkey - which until recently was Israel`s most important Muslim ally - withdrew its ambassador and demanded that the Israelis issue an apology, agree to a United Nations inquiry and compensate the victims` families. However, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would be satisfied with the ongoing Israeli inquiry if that found Israel to be at fault. Mr Davutoglu told Hurriyet newspaper: "The Israelis will either apologise or acknowledge an international, impartial inquiry and its conclusion. Otherwise, our diplomatic ties will be cut off."
He also said there was now a blanket ban in place on all Israeli military aircraft using Turkish airspace, not just on a case-by-case basis. The BBC`s Jonathan Head in Istanbul says that Turkey appears to be hardening its stance towards Israel, just five days after a surprise meeting between Mr Davutoglu and Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer in Switzerland.