Davutoglu: "If ıt has nothing to hide, Iraeş should agree to probe on ship raid"

In strongly worded remarks, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday said that Turkey will not let Israel get away with the killing of nine activists on a Gaza-bound aid ship by Israeli commandos, reiterating Ankara's stance that the issue is between Israel and the conscience of the international community. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed the establishment of an international commission to investigate the lethal Israeli operation, which led to an international uproar and intensified calls for an end to the Israeli blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip. However, Israel swiftly rejected the proposal. "The international community is facing a serious test: Does a country have the right to intercept a ship in international waters or not? This is a question that has priority," Davutoglu told a joint news conference with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Davutoglu met with Afghanistan's Zalmai Rassoul and Pakistan's Shah Mehmood Qureshi as part of a trilateral process launched in 2007 at Turkey's initiative. The trilateral meeting was held on the sidelines of a summit of a 20-member Asian security forum, the Conference on Interactions and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which began at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace yesterday. Telling how Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan supports Ban's proposal, which he called "active and preemptive," Davutoglu continued, "If Israel rejects this proposal, prevents this commission's work and ignores its findings, then Israel has to account for its actions before international law." Davutoglu then said, "(But) if they aren't avoiding it, if they believe that a crime has been committed by the ship's passengers, if they have the conviction that they protected their interests and rights, then let them stand up and declare that they accept this international commission. If they don't accept this international commission, it means that they have something to hide." Turkey, which had a solid alliance with Israel until the three-week Gaza war that ended in early 2009, said it would reduce military and trade ties and shelve discussions on energy projects, including natural gas and fresh water shipments. It threatened to break ties unless Israel apologizes for the raid. "We are evaluating everything. It is up to Israel how our ties will continue," Davutoglu said. "Israel has to accept the consequences of its actions and be held accountable." Davutoglu further underlined that "normalization of Turkish-Israeli relations is out of the question" unless Israel abides by international law. He said Turkey would pursue accountability in the killing of nine of its citizens in the raid. Turkey, protecting not only the rights of its own citizens but also the rights of humanity, is ready to respond to all questions on this issue, Davutoglu said. "If some countries are above or outside the jurisdiction of international law and are seen this way by the international community, then this should also be openly declared," he said. "Then we should also know to what extent international law functions on the high seas." In related news, Ankara is seeking unity from CICA members in condemning the Israeli attack.