An international inquiry into the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla may hurt the Turks – This is the message that US President Barack Obama has conveyed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish sources told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper.
Saturday's report said Obama told Erdogan that "such an inquiry commission may lead to accusations against several passengers on the Marmara ship, or members of the IHH organization and Turkey must know that its request could turn into a double-edged sword."
Turkish sources told the paper that the meeting between Obama and Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada paved the way for the secret meeting between Israel's Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels.
According to the Turkish sources, "Obama conveyed promises and calming messages to Turkey, in an attempt to convince Israel's prime minister, Netanyahu, in their upcoming meeting next Tuesday, to accept the Turkish demands."
The sources said Ben-Eliezer noted that Israel could apologize to the families of some of the activists killed in the flotilla raid, but not to all of them, as some of them were affiliated with Hamas.
The sources added that Ben-Eliezer asked that Turkey give the internal Israeli probe into the raid a chance, or include its report in the international commission's report, which Israel will not officially take part in or work with directly.
“ISRAEL CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO PROBE FLOTILLA RAID”
Earlier this month, the family of Rachel Corrie wrote to U.S. United Nations envoy Susan Rice that Israel cannot be trusted to conduct a reliable investigation of its raid of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Corrie, a U.S. citizen, was 24 when she was struck and killed in 2003 by a bulldozer as she and other human activists tried to stop Israel razing homes in Rafah by using their bodies as human shields.
The driver claimed he didn't see her, and the Israeli occupation army has ruled her death an accident - a version her parents reject.
In the letter obtained by Israeli daily Haaretz, Cindy and Craig Corrie referred to the May 31 raid of the Gaza flotilla which resulted in the deaths of 9 activists, saying they wished to express their "continuing sorrow and outrage over the recent killings and injuries aboard the Mavi Marmara and other vessels that sailed with the Freedom Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza."
"We write also to inform you," the Corrie family added, "of the longstanding, U. S. government position that Israel has failed to conduct a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into our daughter’s killing and that after repeated attempts at the highest levels, U.S. officials have been unable to secure such an investigation."
Rachel Corrie's parents' then said they believed it was "important that Israel’s raid on the flotilla be investigated independently," adding that "while the Israeli Government has a responsibility to conduct its own internal investigation, our experience leads us to believe that Israel cannot be counted upon to reliably investigate itself."
The letter to UN representative Rice concluded with Cindy and Craig Corrie urging the U.S. to support a "truly independent investigation into the raid on the Mavi Marmara, one that is complete, impartial, and trustworthy."
[Source: Al-Manar TV]
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