Article October 11, 2010 Issue

A voice of peace for Israel and Turkey

BY GLORIA ONYURU

ON MAY 31 OF THIS YEAR, Israeli naval forces stormed the Turkish flagship of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters, killing nine activists on board. In the aftermath of this incident, bilateral ties between Israel and Turkey, its longtime sole Muslim ally, were shattered. Israel maintained that it had acted in self-defense to prevent weapons and military supplies from being delivered to Hamas-run Gaza, and that it would not agree to an international investigation by the United Nations. It would make its own investigation into what had actually happened on the flagship of the "Freedom Flotilla" that day.

Turkey argued that only an impartial international investigation into the incident would reveal the truth. It also stated that Israel must apologize for the raid, pay compensation to the victims, and lift the blockade on Gaza in order for the bilateral ties to be restored.

Intense diplomatic traffic began between the UN and leaders from both Israel and Turkey, in an effort to reconcile the rift between what many see as the two most stable countries in the Middle East. After two months of resisting this intense international pressure, Israel announced on August 2 that it would cooperate with an inquiry by the UN into the fatal raid. This decision marked a first for Israel. It had never before been willing to participate in a UN inquiry into the actions of its defense forces. In the past, Israel had traditionally criticized the UN for being biased against the Jewish state. Turkey welcomed Israel's decision as a step in the right direction, and Israel said it hoped the decision to cooperate with the UN would improve relations with its once-close ally.