Turkey demands that Israel names servicemen

By Peter Lukimson, exclusively to VK

Israel Foreign Ministry was surprised to recieve a Turkish request on naming the servicemen who participated in the ‘Mavi Marmara’ vessel assault in summer 2010 and to put them on trial. According to the Turkish Ministry of Justice this request is based on the report of its special commission that investigated the incident.

It is not the first attempt of the Turkish government to get hold of this list. In 2011 some Israelis gave (or sold) a list of 174 names to the Turkish government, but Turkish special services understood very quickly that it was a fake: the list included the names of demobs who could not have participated in those events.

The question of whether the Israeli FM should answer this letter and how is now under consideration. However, according to ‘VK’s’ source in the Ministry, such requests only harm Turkey: “Not only any sovereign state would never comply with such a demand, but it is also illegitimate from a juridical point of view. After the Mavi Marmara incident Israel created a special commission, and this investigation showed that the operation’s commanders made a number of mistakes, but the servicemen themselves acted correctly. So these servicemen can in no way be regarded as criminals. Turkey justifies its actions by the suggestion that the Gaza blockade is illegal, but the UN Palmer’s commission recognized Israel’s right to conduct this blockade. The same commission recognized that the passengers of the Mavi Marmara can’t be regarded as civilians as they offered armed resistance to the Israeli soldiers. The only disputable question here is whether the implementation of force by the ШВА was proportional or not. But in any case, by making such a request Turkey demise the results of the UN commission investigation, thus challenging the international community”.