Mavi Marmara attack remembered in Gaza

Scores of Palestinians on Saturday marked the anniversary of a deadly attack by the Israeli navy on a Turkish aid flotilla that sought to break the siege on the Gaza Strip in 2010.

Ten activists were killed on board of the Turkish aid flotilla Mavi Marmara in May of 2010 when Israel’s navy attacked the ship as it sought to break Gaza’s blockade that has been in place since 2007.

Mehmet Kaya, the representative of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation which organiSed the event, said the people who gathered on Saturday only wanted to remember their brothers who were killed in 2010 in their attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“The blood of the martyrs of Mavi Marmara will not go in vain,” Kaya told Anadolu Agency.

He said his foundation would not stop supporting the Palestinian people, calling on the Palestinians to stay united in order to liberate their country.

Senior Hamas figure, Bassem Naeem, meanwhile, said the Mavi Marmara attack was “seminal” in the history of the Islamic nation.

He called for bringing Israel to court for killing the Turkish activists on board of the Turkish aid ship and also committing crimes against the Palestinian people for decades.

Naeem said Turkey had contributed millions of dollars in support for the Palestinian people and also offered political, diplomatic and media support.

Six civilian ships in the aid flotilla were attacked in international waters by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010, as they tried to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Nine Turkish activists were killed and 30 other people injured, including one activist who died nearly four years after being critically injured.

The raid raised tensions between Israel and Turkey, which recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

Images by MEMO Photographer Mohammed Asad.

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