Turkish media is reporting that the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (?HH), the lead organization for the June 2010 Gaza flotilla, has objected to what was described as the imminent agreement between Turkey and Israel. According to the Hurriyet Daily News report:
June 26, 2016 The Istanbul-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), which organized the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, has declared its clear objection to on imminent agreement between Turkey and Israel expected to be announced on June 26.
The IHH announced its objection and reasons through its official Twitter accounts late on June 25, both in English and in Turkish.
‘Our commitments related with the conditions of [the]probable Israel-Turkey agreement as it appears in the media [are]as such: 1- We are keeping our stance related with the blockade of Gaza and [the]Mavi Marmara incident,’ the IHH said.
Turkish-Israeli relations were suspended in 2010 after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stormed the Mavi Marmara, part of the Gaza-bound ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ trying to break the Israeli blockade on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the attack eight Turkish citizens and one U.S. citizen of Turkish descent were killed and a tenth died of his wounds three years later.
The IHH organized the 2010 flotilla to Gaza.
Read the rest here.
In March of this year, the GMBDW reported that the IHH was one of the participants in the latest of the Gaza flotillas, this time called the “Women’s Boat to Gaza.” In 2011, the GMBDW Editor published a report titled “Turkey, the Global Muslim Brotherhood, and the Gaza Flotilla” which demonstrated that the Global Muslim Brotherhood, including at that time its Turkish components, was deeply involved in the planning and preparation leading up to the June 2010 first Gaza flotilla that was involved in the violent altercation with Israeli naval forces. That report explored the role of IHH as the public face of that first flotilla.
As we noted in our December 2015 post on the seeming normalization between Turkey and Israel, the Israeli motivations are not clear to the GMBDW, particularly the statements of Dore Gold, the director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry who appears to be a key figure in mediating the rapprochement. As we pointed out, Dr. Gold was responsible for the 2011 report mentioned above and which was published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) where at that time Dr. Gold was the director.