Turkey announces own flotilla probe

Panel will “investigate the attack and the treatment the activists faced.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF
marmara knives 311 (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson)
marmara knives 311
(photo credit: IDF Spokesperson)
A panel to investigate the IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship has been established by Turkey, the country’s Foreign Ministry told AFP.
According to the report, the panel will examine the events of the raid and “investigate the attack and the treatment the activists faced.”
The panel is expected to operate under the prime minister’s office and publicize a written report on the investigation, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The international panel established by the United Nations earlier in August, which is also leading its own investigation into the raid, will be presented with the results of the Turkish commission.
The commission will include bureaucrats from various offices, such as the foreign, justice, interior and transport ministries. Officials from the Turkish maritime agency will also take part in the investigation.
The statement did not include a planned date as to when the commission will present its findings.
According to press reports, Turkish prosecutors initiated an investigation against top Israeli officials in June, which will potentially lead to the pressing of various charges, such as murder, injury, attacking Turkish citizens while in international waters and piracy Turkey has dismissed the two internal investigations Israel has established to investigate the raid and expressed doubt over their fairness. The country says it has confidence in the UN panel’s ability to reveal the events of the incident.
The UN panel, appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, met for the first time Tuesday, discussing the incident “with good cooperation and in a positive atmosphere,” according to a UN statement Thursday. It plans to meet again in early September.
Ban Ki-moon, who appointed the inquiry, has asked for an interim report on September 15.
The four-member panel is chaired by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, and co-chaired by former Columbian President Alvaro Uribe. Businessman Joseph Ciechanover represents Israel, and Özdem Sanberk represents Turkey.