Thirty-three family members of Turkish activists who participated in the Mavi
Marmara flotilla heading to Gaza in 2010 filed a lawsuit on Friday demanding
compensation after the fatal IDF raid, the Turkish Hurriyet daily reported
Saturday.
According to the report, the families of Furkan Dogan, Cevdet
Kiliçlar and Necdet Yildirim, who were killed during the Israel Navy’s
interception of the flotilla, are suing Israel seeking moral and financial
compensation that mounts to 10 million Turkish liras, or $5m.
Thirty
other persons who were injured in the interception are also filing for
compensation, the families’ attorney, Ugur Yildirim allegedly told
Hurriyet.
In May, a Turkish court pressed formal charges against top IDF
officers suspected of involvement in the killings aboard the Mavi
Marmara.
It demanded nine consecutive life terms for four commanders,
including ex-chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi and three other former
senior military officials in a move one Israeli source labeled “the targeted
killing of Israeli-Turkish ties.”
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has tried
to broker a compromise with Turkey in an effort to minimize the legal exposure
of the commandos.
Turkish news reports claimed last year that
intelligence agencies had also compiled a list of 174 IDF soldiers who could be
prosecuted for their involvement in the operation.
The IDF Military
Advocate- General’s Office established a joint team with the Justice Ministry to
study the UN-commissioned Palmer Report, released in September 2011, which
justified Israel’s decision to impose a sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, but also
criticized the navy’s operation to stop the Gaza-bound flotilla.
The
report said that “the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force
by Israeli forces during the takeover of the Mavi Marmara was
unacceptable.”
The team was studying the legal consequences of the report
and possible ways to provide protections to IDF soldiers.
A senior IDF
officer said at the time that the Palmer Report could serve as the basis for
criminal lawsuits against the commandos who boarded the ship as well as
additional senior officers, including then-OC Navy V.-Adm. Eliezer Marom and
then-chief of staff Ashkenazi, for their role in the operation.
However,
Turkey rejected the report’s findings, saying Israel had no right to raid the
ship in international waters and said it would never recognize the blockade’s
legitimacy.
Meanwhile, the navy is preparing to intercept the latest
Gaza-bound ship carrying European pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the
security naval blockade around the Strip.
An IDF source confirmed that
the navy has carried out general preparations for future ships filled with
activists.
Israel will not allow the vessel to reach Gaza, a Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday after the organizers of the “flotilla” issued
a communiqué saying they received clearance in La Spezia, Italy, to set sail and
will reach Gaza in some two weeks.
Herb Keinon, Ilene Prusher and Yaakov
Lappin contributed to this report.