Bagis dismisses Israeli concerns over "valley of the wolves: Palestine"

A popular action movie about avenging the nine Turkish victims of Israel's raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla does not reflect Ankara's position, said Turkey's chief European Union Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday. Bagis's comments about "Valley of the Wolves: Palestine," the latest installment in the popular "Kurtlar Vadisi" adventure franchise, came in response to reports quoting Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Gabby Levy as saying, "The film is anti-Israeli and has anti-Semitic reflections." The film tells the tale of a Turkish agent sent on a covert mission to Gaza and the West Bank to avenge the victims of Israel's deadly raid last May on the Mavi Marmara aid ship. Bagis dismissed Levy's criticism, calling the film a sign of freedom of expression, which his government promotes for a more democratic Turkey. "The movie does not reflect the position of our government," he said.