Turkey, Israel Set for New Clash Over Second Gaza Aid Flotilla
VOA
31-May-2011

Turkey is commemorating the first anniversary of Israeli forces' attack on an aid flotilla headed to Gaza that left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.  The deaths - eight Turkish citizens and an American citizen of Turkish descent - have ruptured relations between once close allies.

The crowd chanted "Damnation to Israel," as they marched through the center of Istanbul to remember the nine people killed by Israel's security forces while on the Turkish ship the Mavi Marmara.  The international flotilla last year hoped to break the Israeli economic blockade of Palestinians living on the Gaza Strip.

Those marching on the one-year anniversary are still angry over the killings.

PERSON1: "There was blood, violence and tears on Mavi Marmara, and we are still feeling that pain.  We lost our nine brothers, and Israel is responsible for this."

PERSON2: "They killed our brothers on [the] Marmara ship and in Palestine.  [They] always kill our brothers, and we protest Israel, and we say that Israelis [are] terrorists."

Since the incident, the two nations continue to exchange angry barbs over who was responsible for the deaths on the Turkish flagship.

The flotilla's organizers - the Free Gaza Movement and the Foundation for Human Rights, Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), a Turkish aid group - have been planning an even larger event this... >>>

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