Turkey closes its airspace to Israeli planes

The Turkish Authorities have decided to close the country’s airspace to Israeli planes amid renewed demands for an apology from the Zionist entity; the formation of an international commission of inquiry into the massacre aboard the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ and a complete lifting of the siege imposed on Gaza.

Today (28/06), a Turkish diplomat announced that the country had closed its airspace to Israeli military aircraft due to the attack on the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ and confirmed that the decision had been taken just shortly after the attack on May 31st, but did not give any further details.

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In a statement previous to this, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced his countries demand for an apology from Israel for their attack on the humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza last month. The attack led to the killing of nine passengers; eight Turkish nationals and one American of Turkish origin.

During a press briefing after the G20 summit in Toronto yesterday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s demands which include; an apology, the formation of an international commission of inquiry, compensation for damage incurred including the confiscation of vessels heading to Gaza flying the Turkish flag and finally, the complete lifting of the siege on the sector.

Erdogan, who held a bilateral meeting for over an hour with US president Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, expressed the hope that by his next meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the beginning of July, there would be a positive impact on the Israeli position.

Erdogan placed particular emphasis on the complete lifting of the embargo on Gaza making reference to United Nations reports on food, medicine and building material shortages which confirm the suffering of Gazans.

It is worth mentioning that ten days ago, Turkish diplomatic sources told the French Press Agency that Ankara intends to reduce its level diplomatic relations with Israel if it fails to meet the list of Turkish demands in compensation for the attack last month.

Source: Palestinian Information Centre