The men were armed large quantities of knives, axes, metal cables,metal pipes used as clubs, wrenches, and other weapons, the reportsaid. "They were also equipped with box cutters which had beenprepared on the upper deck in advance," it added."The passengers, including the IHH operatives, stated that there wereclose relations between the organization and Turkish Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan and that the Turkish government was involved inpreparations for the flotilla," the report asserted.A journalist onboard the Mavi Marmara, described as having good linkswith the heads of the Turkish government and Bulent Yildirim, head of theIHH, had stated, "The flotilla was organized with thesupport of the Turkish government and Prime Minister Erdogan gave theinstructions for it to set sail. That was despite the fact thateveryone knew it would never reach its destination," according to thereport.Files found in laptops seized from IHH members contained a letterwritten in Turkish from IHH head Bülent Yildirim to Turkish PresidentAbdullah Gül. The letter requested Gal's assistance in efforts torelease an IHH operative, named as Izzat Shahin, from an Israeliprison.Sahin was arrested by Israeli security forces in the West Bank onApril 27 on suspicion transferring cash to Hamas under the guise ofcharitable aid. He has since been deported from Israel "at the requestof Turkish officials," the report added.Mavi Marmara purchased from AKP-run municipality of IstanbulA second computer file showed that the "IHH purchased the Mavi Marmaraship from a Turkish company called IDO... which was founded in 1987 bythe city of Istanbul.""[The] IHH acquired the Mavi Marmara ship from the AKP-runmunicipality of Istanbul. It is not conceivable that the IHH’s Gazaoperation could have been carried out absent high-level governmentsanction," wrote Svante Cornell, a Swedish security expert whospecializes in Eurasia, in an article published on Monday.Cornell, of Stokholm's Central Asia-Caucus Institute, said the IHH was"an example of how NGOs are used in the foreign policy sphere,"adding, "The IHH operates joint projects with the Turkish Agency forInternational Development, and is reported to have been used by thegovernment in order to shore up Turkey’s position in northern Iraq bydistributing aid to populations there. The IHH has its origins in theOrthodox Islamic Milli Görüş movement, from which the AKPorganizationally split in 2001.""As such, the IHH is known as a dyed-in-the-wool Islamist movement,which has been suspected and investigated repeatedly for allegedinvolvement in arms shipment to Islamic forces in various conflicts,such as Afghanistan and Bosnia. Leading former French counter-terrormagistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière has repeatedly testified that the IHHhad ‘clear, long-standing ties to terrorism and Jihad’, including tiesto Al Qaeda in the late 1990s," Cornell added.Ely Karmon, a senior researcher from the Herzliya-based Institute forCounter-Terrorism, told The Jerusalem Post that since coming to power,the AKP party has worked repeatedly to assist the IHH. After beingelected into office in 2001, the AKP government ended a major legalinvestigation into the IHH which had begun 1996 and examinedsuspicions that the organization transferred weapons and other aid toterrorist organizations around the world, Karmon said.In January, the IHH helped organize a convoy to Gaza which becamestranded at El-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula after being denied entryinto Gaza by Egypt, "Turkey enacted major pressure on Egypt to letthe convoy into Gaza. The Egyptians eventually agreed," Karmon added.An Egyptian soldier was killed during clashes between members of theconvoy and the Egyptian security forces.Last week, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) releasedfootage of statements made by Bulent Yildirim, head of IHH, in Gazain February 2009.During the speech, which was filled with references to “martyrdom,”Yildirim said, "All the peoples of the Islamic world would want aleader like [Turkish prime minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan."
'Turkish gov't backed extremists'
The IHH operatives maintained close ties with Erdogan, report says.
The men were armed large quantities of knives, axes, metal cables,metal pipes used as clubs, wrenches, and other weapons, the reportsaid. "They were also equipped with box cutters which had beenprepared on the upper deck in advance," it added."The passengers, including the IHH operatives, stated that there wereclose relations between the organization and Turkish Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan and that the Turkish government was involved inpreparations for the flotilla," the report asserted.A journalist onboard the Mavi Marmara, described as having good linkswith the heads of the Turkish government and Bulent Yildirim, head of theIHH, had stated, "The flotilla was organized with thesupport of the Turkish government and Prime Minister Erdogan gave theinstructions for it to set sail. That was despite the fact thateveryone knew it would never reach its destination," according to thereport.Files found in laptops seized from IHH members contained a letterwritten in Turkish from IHH head Bülent Yildirim to Turkish PresidentAbdullah Gül. The letter requested Gal's assistance in efforts torelease an IHH operative, named as Izzat Shahin, from an Israeliprison.Sahin was arrested by Israeli security forces in the West Bank onApril 27 on suspicion transferring cash to Hamas under the guise ofcharitable aid. He has since been deported from Israel "at the requestof Turkish officials," the report added.Mavi Marmara purchased from AKP-run municipality of IstanbulA second computer file showed that the "IHH purchased the Mavi Marmaraship from a Turkish company called IDO... which was founded in 1987 bythe city of Istanbul.""[The] IHH acquired the Mavi Marmara ship from the AKP-runmunicipality of Istanbul. It is not conceivable that the IHH’s Gazaoperation could have been carried out absent high-level governmentsanction," wrote Svante Cornell, a Swedish security expert whospecializes in Eurasia, in an article published on Monday.Cornell, of Stokholm's Central Asia-Caucus Institute, said the IHH was"an example of how NGOs are used in the foreign policy sphere,"adding, "The IHH operates joint projects with the Turkish Agency forInternational Development, and is reported to have been used by thegovernment in order to shore up Turkey’s position in northern Iraq bydistributing aid to populations there. The IHH has its origins in theOrthodox Islamic Milli Görüş movement, from which the AKPorganizationally split in 2001.""As such, the IHH is known as a dyed-in-the-wool Islamist movement,which has been suspected and investigated repeatedly for allegedinvolvement in arms shipment to Islamic forces in various conflicts,such as Afghanistan and Bosnia. Leading former French counter-terrormagistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière has repeatedly testified that the IHHhad ‘clear, long-standing ties to terrorism and Jihad’, including tiesto Al Qaeda in the late 1990s," Cornell added.Ely Karmon, a senior researcher from the Herzliya-based Institute forCounter-Terrorism, told The Jerusalem Post that since coming to power,the AKP party has worked repeatedly to assist the IHH. After beingelected into office in 2001, the AKP government ended a major legalinvestigation into the IHH which had begun 1996 and examinedsuspicions that the organization transferred weapons and other aid toterrorist organizations around the world, Karmon said.In January, the IHH helped organize a convoy to Gaza which becamestranded at El-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula after being denied entryinto Gaza by Egypt, "Turkey enacted major pressure on Egypt to letthe convoy into Gaza. The Egyptians eventually agreed," Karmon added.An Egyptian soldier was killed during clashes between members of theconvoy and the Egyptian security forces.Last week, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) releasedfootage of statements made by Bulent Yildirim, head of IHH, in Gazain February 2009.During the speech, which was filled with references to “martyrdom,”Yildirim said, "All the peoples of the Islamic world would want aleader like [Turkish prime minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan."