Bulent Yildrim, the head of the Istanbul-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), has tweeted a statement suggesting that the ship known as the MV Mavi Marmara will be involved in a future effort to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship of the June 2010 Gaza flotilla that was involved in a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces who stormed the ship.
In 2011, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) published a report on the background to the flotilla authored by the GMBDW editor titled “Turkey, the Global Muslim Brotherhood, and the Gaza Flotilla.” The report abstract states:
There is strong evidence for Turkish governmental involvement in the Gaza flotilla incident, with Turkish government support channeled through the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood. The IHH was not acting alone but rather was an integral part of a Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network.
With respect to the Global Muslim Brotherhood, report’s second conclusion states:
The Gaza flotilla incident brought into sharp focus an even more significant long- term development: the growing relationship between the Erdogan government and the Global Muslim Brotherhood, which has given rise to some of the most notorious Islamist terrorist groups – from al-Qaeda to Hamas. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood, while the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip acted as the main axis for this activity
Read the rest here.
Our predecessor publication reported in June 2012 that Yildrim was being investigated for allegedly financing al-Qaeda through his organization.
In September 2012, we reported that IHH may be involved in transporting weapons to Syria on behalf of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
Despite these findings and the announcement by Yildrim that the Mavi Marmara would once again be involved in blockage-running efforts, Israeli media is reporting that Israel and Turkey are days away from signing a compensation agreement for the families of those killed on the Gaza flotilla.