Bloody Massacre at Gaza Shores by the Israelis

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister declared Tuesday that Israel had carried out a "bloody massacre" by killing nine people on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship and said the two countries had reached a turning point in their long-standing alliance.

Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel immediately after the raid, scrapped three joint military exercises and called the U.N. Security Council to an emergency meeting that demanded an impartial investigation.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers in the Parliament on Tuesday that the boarding of the Mediterranean flotilla and killing of at least four Turkish activists was an attack "on international law, the conscience of humanity and world peace."

"Today is a turning point in history. Nothing will be same again," Erdogan said.

This predominantly Muslim and historically secular country has close military and trade ties with the Jewish state but relations have been deteriorating since Israel's 2008-2009 war in Gaza. Erdogan, who leads an Islamic-rooted party, walked off the stage last year after berating Israel's President Shimon Peres at an international gathering in Davos, Switzerland, over the war in Gaza.

In January when Turkey's Ambassador Oguz Celikkol was not greeted with a handshake and was forced to sit on a low sofa during a meeting with Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, who later apologized.

The killing of the Turkish activists unleashed a new level of fury against Israel.

Thousands of pro-Islamic and nationalist Turks poured into the streets in Istanbul and Ankara Monday and protests continued on Tuesday outside Israeli diplomatic missions, with demonstrators carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags and shouting "down with Israel!"

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said four Turkish citizens were confirmed slain by Israeli commandos and another five were also believed to be Turks, although Israeli authorities were still trying to confirm their nationalities
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/01/turkish-pm-israeli-raid-a_n_595803.html
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