“If I were prime minister, I would have apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and the Turkish people because civilians lost their lives,” Olmert said while speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Turkish-Israeli relations were badly damaged after Israeli naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara in the eastern Mediterranean to breach the Israeli-imposed embargo in Gaza. Eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish American were killed during the raid. Turkey continues to demand an apology, compensation to families of the victims and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. Israel has only expressed regret over the killings and says its soldiers acted in self-defense.
Olmert said if he were Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli prime minister, he would have contacted the Turkish government two days after the incident and had talks to deal with the situation.
ref: http://www.todayszaman.com
Tags: apologize, Israel’s, Mavi Marmara raid, Olmert, Turkey
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.