Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he will travel to Gaza if Israel does not apologize to Turkey for last year's Gaza flotilla raid, Turkish daily
Hurriyet reported Wednesday.
Erdogan made the statement while on his way to northern Cyprus where he addressed his intent to strike a peace deal between the Greek and Turkish sides of the island nation, according to the report.
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The Palmer Comission was established to investigate the circumstances of the IDF raid on Gaza flotilla ship
Mavi Marmara in May 2010.
The 90-page report is widely expected to say that Israel was within its
legal rights in clamping a naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, but that it used
excessive force against the
Mavi Marmara.
Nine Turks were killed when IDF commandos boarded the ship in an effort
to implement the blockade, and were attacked by passengers.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon were holding secret talks
trying to broker a reconciliation deal for several weeks until they
stalled over the weekend.
Turkey made it clear that it does not intend to compromise on an
apology. It has both increased its demands for reconciliation and made
declarations of how it would further sour ties if Israel did not meet
its demands, such as a state visit to Gaza. Increased demands include
reparations paid to the families of those killed during the raid, to
which Israel has agreed in principle, and an end to the Gaza blockade,
which has been authorized as legal by the United Nations.
