'IHH gathered IDF names, not Turkish intelligence'

'Today's Zaman': List of 174 names, apparently acquired through Facebook, was passed to Turkish prosecutors, includes top IDF officers.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Mavi Marmara Raid 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Mavi Marmara Raid 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Turkish state prosecutor on Monday denied reports that Turkish intelligence agencies were asked to or participated in identifying Israeli soldiers and officers that participated in the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, Turkish daily Today's Zaman reported.
Istanbul Deputy Public Prosecutor Ates Shasan Sozen told the newspaper that the IHH, the organization that organized the Gaza Flotilla, submitted the list to the Prosecutor's Office the same day when Turkish daily Sabah published the list of 174 names.
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Earlier Monday, Sabah wrote that the names were acquired by Turkish intelligence agencies who analyzed social connections on Facebook and Twitter, as well as comparing photographs on those websites with ones taken on board the Marmara.
The list of 174 names was transferred to Turkish prosecutors, in addition to pictures of 10 IDF soldiers the paper said could not be identified. Included on the list were not only those IDF soldiers who participated in the operation to stop the Gaza Flotilla, but also senior IDF officials.
According to the report, a graph of all the Israeli officials was put together by the Turkish prosecutor's office, in order of importance and responsibility for the military operation.
Earlier this month, a lawyer for the Turkish based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said he had submitted a list of the soldiers involved in the Mavi Marmara raid to Turkish prosecutors.
"We have presented a list of Israeli soldiers who gave the order for and who were involved in the attack on the Turkish flotilla to the Istanbul prosecutor's office," Ramazan Ariturk, lawyer for the group that organized the Gaza flotilla said.
"Currently we are waiting for the prosecutor's office to issue an order for arrest," he added.
The  move came as the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MİT) in order to obtain information on the identities of the IDF soldiers who were involved in the raid which left nine Turks dead in May of last year, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported in early September.
According the paper, an affirmative answer from MİT would allow the prosecutor to open court cases against Israeli officials including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi, and the soldiers involved in the raid.
The charges would include the “willful murder and torture” and “limiting freedom” of the passengers, the paper reported.