Gul: "Israel's flotilla reports has no value or credibility"

The report of Israel's inquiry into its deadly raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last May has no value or credibility, President Abdullah Gul said yesterday. Israel's Turkel Commission on Sunday released its report into the incident, which left nine Turkish peace activists dead, clearing the Israeli government and army of wrongdoing. The report concluded that Israel's blockade of Gaza is legal under international law and that the Israeli soldiers involved in the incident acted in self-defense. The report blamed the violence that occurred aboard the Turkish-flagged ship Mavi Marmara on the activists aboard it, and accused them of trying to breach Israel's rightful blockade of Gaza. "What Israel did during that incident has nothing to do with international law, and this report by Israel isn't worth the paper it is printed on – it has no credibility, legitimacy or plausibility in terms of international law," Gul told reporters before leaving for a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. He added that the report proves how the Israeli government has a "spoiled" attitude and flouts international law. The report was also received coolly by the Israeli media, with Israeli newspapers commenting that only the Israeli Chief of General Staff could have prepared such a report. The Turkel report won't convince anyone who wasn't convinced already, wrote The Jerusalem Post, while a Haaretz editorial said the commission might have been better named the Benjamin Netanyahu commission, after Israel's hawkish prime minister.