Turkel C'tee asks Turkish embassy to provide witnesses

Internal investigation of Gaza flotilla sends open invitation for passengers, crew to testify; Turkish embassy yet to respond.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Turkel Committee 311 (photo credit: GPO)
Turkel Committee 311
(photo credit: GPO)
The Turkel Commission issued an open invitation on Sunday for the passengers and crew of the Mavi Marmara to testify.
The commission – which is tasked with investigating the IDF flotilla raid that left nine Turkish activists dead on that ship in May – sent a letter to the Turkish Embassy requesting help in building a list of prospective witnesses who were on the vessel, a spokesman said Tuesday.
RELATED:The search for the truthTurks deny Turkel C'tee's request to probe Marmara capt.“We are aware that there are issues which arise regarding arranging such testimony, and would be happy to work with the embassy and with the Turkish authorities...
to overcome any such obstacles,” the spokesman quoted the letter as saying.
The embassy did not release an immediate response to the letter.
The Turkel Commission had previously asked the embassy to help locate the Mavi Marmara captain so he could be invited to testify, but Turkey denied the request.
Turkey has formed its own committee to investigate the flotilla incident. It has already heard testimony from the Mavi Marmara’s captain and crew. The Turks already sent the committee’s findings to the UN and expressed that Israel could look at the captain’s testimony in the existing report if it believed that could aid its investigation.