Victims of deadly raid remembered on 3rd year

ISTANBUL

Relatives of the victims pray for their loved ones in front of their photos. AA photo

Two Turkish non-governmental organizations have held commemorations for the nine victims of the Mavi Marmara raid to mark the third anniversary of the raid. Some NGO (Mazlumder) members held a sit-in protest at a park near the Israeli Embassy in Ankara throughout the night of May 30, the date of the third anniversary, while the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) held a meeting onboard the Mavi Marmara, anchored in Istanbul’s Haliç shore, on May 31. The victims’ relatives are to spend the night onboard and on June 1 they will pray at Fatih Mosque before marching to the Edirnekapı Cemetery where two of the victims were buried, İHH spokesperson Serkan Nergis told the Hürriyet Daily News.

On May 31, 2010, a humanitarian aid flotilla on a mission to the Gaza, despite an Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, was raided by Israeli commandos. Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel after the attack, in September 2011 it downgraded diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv to the lowest level of second secretary and put on hold all military contracts. In March 2013, the Israeli government agreed to apologize with the mediation of US President Barack Obama. The compensation talks between two countries are still ongoing.