Turkey's prime minister has again accused Israel of "state terrorism" and called on the Jewish state to apologize and compensate victims of a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "the Israeli government must apologize and compensate (victims) for the state terrorism in the Mediterranean." He was addressing members of his Islamic-oriented party at a weekend retreat Saturday.
Eight Turks and one person with American and Turkish nationality were killed in the May 31 raid on a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Israel says its commandos opened fire after they were attacked by activists
Relations between the two former allies have been deteriorating since Israel’s Gaza war and hit a low point after the raid.
A champion of Muslim solidarity
Erdogan this week toured parts of Pakistan devastated by floods, using the visit to attack Israel and polish his image as a champion of Muslim solidarity.
"My brothers, we share the same faith," Erdogan told his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani and hundreds of his supporters in a tent near the town of Thatta, which had been evacuated as the waters of the Indus river rose earlier this year.
Erdogan travelled from Islamabad to Karachi with six ministers, flying by helicopter to see aid efforts including a village of 2,2D0 prefabricated houses built by the Turkish Red Crescent near Multan in eastern Punjab province.
"We love you and I believe you love us. Pakistan… did not abandon us in the 1999 earthquake" which killed some 20,000 people in northwestern Turkey, said Erdogan.
During the visit, Erdogan — whose visit had been preceded by that of his wife — focused his messages on Muslim solidarity and on moderate Islam to beat the challenge of extremism.
"Islam is committed to peace, and we are believers of Islam. Those who follow the faith of Islam cannot kill people," he said, citing a "common battle" against terrorism.
The Israeli raid and Turkey’s subsequent furious reaction has boosted Erdogan’s popularity in the Arab and Muslim world, which had already been well established after his scathing condemnation of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip in late 22D8.
Turkish flags have mushroomed in Gaza and Palestinian parents have named their children after the head of the Turkish government.