'Turkey will sanction Israel if Marmara apology not issued'

Ankara FM Davutoglu tells 'Zaman' that deadline for apology for death of 9 Turks during flotilla raid "is the day the UN report gets released, or we resort to Plan B”; says Turkey will not allow more delays in report.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Davutoglu 311 R (photo credit: REUTERS/Osman Orsal)
Davutoglu 311 R
(photo credit: REUTERS/Osman Orsal)
An Israeli failure to apologize for the deaths of nine Turks during the May 2010 IDF raid of the flotilla ship the Mavi Marmara when a UN report on the incident is released will lead Turkey to impose unspecified sanctions on Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday.
“Turkey will be imposing sanctions that are well known by Israel and some other international parties,” he warned in an interview with Turkish daily Zaman.
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The Palmer Commission report on the Mavi Marmara incident was expected to be released on Friday, following Turkey's rejection of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s proposal that publication of the report be postponed for another six months. Release of the report has been delayed repeatedly since May 15, when it was first scheduled to be published.
“It is not remotely possible for us to agree to a six-month delay,” Davutoglu told Zaman. “For us the deadline is the day the UN report gets released, or we resort to Plan B,”he added.
“We are not in a position to tell the UN to release or delay it, but we will do as necessary when the UN finally does release it,” he added.
“We have been told that there has been a consensus, including an apology and other issues, which means we have made progress in the negotiations. But when it came to the final move, Israel always takes a step back at the last minute because of debates among its coalition,” Zaman quoted Davutoglu as saying.
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.