Turkey: Israel will pay the price for 'pirate' violence

Israel will have to “bear the consequences” after at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the largest vessel in a convoy of aid ships heading to Gaza, Turkey said yesterday. Ankara already stated many times that a return to normal bilateral relations is conditional on concrete steps by Israel to end the months-long humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, long before Israeli commandos stormed a ship with 700 people on board who were accompanying five other vessels carrying 10,000 tons of medical supplies, housing material and other aid to Gaza. Yet Ankara appeared to have run out of patience after the move by Israeli naval forces, which Turkish officials labeled “piracy,” while the first official reaction came early Monday morning from the Foreign Ministry through a harshly worded statement of condemnation…While hectic diplomatic activity was conducted in Ankara, with Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy summoned to the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short an official visit to Latin America and was on his way home. Similarly, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug cut short an official visit to Egypt and was on his way to Turkey.