Turkey appeals ICC Mavi Marmara ruling

The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) has appealed against the International Criminal Court’s decision not to investigate Israel’s deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010 which resulted in the killing of 10 people.

Ramazan Ariturk, one of the lawyers in the legal team representing IHH, said their appeal would be examined by the court’s preliminary office.

Ariturk pointed out that the court prosecutor said the Israeli attack on the ship was “cowardly and violates international law”, but the court refused to investigate it because of what it considered to be “lack of sufficient gravity”.

Ariturk described the court’s decision as “contrary to law”.

Israeli navy commandos attacked the Mavi Marmara ship; the largest ship in the freedom flotilla which aimed to break the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip in 2010, using tear gas and live bullets which resulted in the death of ten Turks and injured 50 others.

IHH and the victims’ families filed a criminal complaint with the International Criminal Court demanding the prosecution of Israeli officials who played a role in the attack.

Though both Israel and Turkey are not ICC members it was possible to file the case with the international court because the Mavi Marmara is registered in the Comoros which is a member of the court.