ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was considering sailing to the Gaza Strip as part of an aid flotilla backed by the Turkish Navy.
Lebanese newspaper al Mustaqbal quoted security sources as saying that Mr Erdogan was pondering the move in order to break the barrier imposed against Gaza by Israel.
It said that “as part of the open conflict between Turkey and Israel following the massacre against the ‘freedom sail’ to Gaza and the protest sparked in the world, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is considering going to Gaza himself in order to break the blockade imposed on the Strip.”
The sources said Erdogan raised the option in discussions with associates.
The report added that the Turkish leader also told the U.S. that he planned to ask his navy to escort another aid flotilla – but officials in Washington asked him to delay the plan in order to look into the matter.
The move followed strong criticism of Israel by Erdogan after Israeli armed forces killed several people on board an aid flotilla Monday, sparking widespread international condemnation.
When the possibility of Erdogan joining a flotilla was posed to Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, he said such a move was not a “realistic scenario” and dismissed it outright.
“Some of these reports must be taken with a grain of salt … I am not sure that is a realistic scenario,” he told Sky News.
“I prefer that we sort these things out peacefully. Nobody wants any saber-rattling. It does not do any good,” said Regev.
It’s a very good initiative taken by Turkish PM. So far amongst the leaders of Islamic countries, he is the sole person protesting against Israel in a perfect manner.
Both Iran and Turkey have taken principled stands.
What is amazing is that PM Erdogan is not backing down–he is escalating the issue to fix the plight of the Gazan incarcerated in the world’s largest prison
Now only if the lapdogs we have as leaders of Pakistan take some stand ; world would be a better place.
It is indeed, rationally, required to be done, and Salute to the bold Erdogan, who has shown his character.
Unless and until you won’t hit the ego of the evil, it will always expand and prevail, therefore to kill the evil, you need to hit it’s ego first.
And where is Saudi Arabia? The centre of two holy mosques and everything Islamic? Nowhere in helping thier “Brothers” in Gaza?
the Zionist Israel has learnt from the German Nazis, and now exceeds the Nazis in terror, torture, kidnapping and killing. The Zionists (not the Israelis as a whole) must be eliminated and destroyed, or their will never be peace in the middle east.