Turkey Downgrades Ties With Israel Over Flotilla Raid

NY Times:  ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said on Friday that it was downgrading its diplomatic and military ties with Israel and expelling its ambassador to register its displeasure at Israel’s refusal to apologize for a commando raid last year on a flotilla bound for Gaza in which nine people died.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would reduce its diplomatic representation in Israel to the level of second secretary — one of the lowest diplomatic ranks — and had ordered Israel’s ambassador, Gaby Levy, to leave Turkey by Wednesday.

Mr. Davutoglu also said that Turkey was suspending all military agreements signed between the former allies, saying “it is time Israel pays a price.” But, he said, relations could return to normal if Israel apologized.

“Our aim here is not to hurt our friendship but to return this friendship to its right track,” Mr. Davutoglu said.

Turkey once ranked as Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world, but the latest move seemed likely to deepen the already profound alienation between the two countries.

There was no immediate comment from Jerusalem. Israeli officials said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding consultations, but they refused to make any initial statements in response to the announcement from Turkey.

The move came as a long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla, in which nine passengers were killed, found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable.

The report, expected to be released Friday, also found that when Israeli commandos boarded the main ship, they faced “organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers” and were therefore required to use force for their own protection. But the report called the force “excessive and unreasonable,” saying that the loss of life was unacceptable and that the Israeli military’s later treatment of passengers was abusive. A copy of the 105-page report was obtained early by The New York Times.

Mr. Davutoglu said Turkey did not accept the findings of the report and did not recognize the legality of the Gaza blockade. He also said Turkey would take all necessary precautions to protect its shipping in the eastern Mediterranean, though he did not elaborate. Turkey plans to start procedures at the United Nations Security Council to analyze the legitimacy of the blockade.

In the past, the two countries have sought to negotiate some kind of apology for the raid from Israel and compensation for the victims — eight Turks and an American of Turkish descent. But those discussions ended in failure with Israel saying it is willing to express regret and pay compensation but not offer the full apology Turkey is demanding.

For his part, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said an apology and compensation would not be sufficient for Turkey to return its ambassador to Tel Aviv, demanding that Israel end its naval blockade of Gaza.