Turkey urges US over decision on apology

Turkey has told the U.S. that Israel’s decision not to apologize or pay compensation for the deaths of nine Turkish activists in a raid on an aid ship last year will not be left unanswered. Ankara said Israel’s stance would only naturally lead to a further deterioration in bilateral ties. Turkey’s message came on the eve of the publication of a U.N. inquiry report on the Mavi Marmara incident and just days after Israel said its decision not to issue a formal apology was firm. According to diplomatic sources, the message has been delivered to U.S. officials many times over the months, but Israel’s recent public statement about the issue made it essential to send it once again. “The Americans have been involved in this process for so long. We are sure they will be working until the last moment” to convince Israel to issue an apology, sources told the Hurriyet Daily News over the weekend. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday relations between Turkey and Israel would only worsen if there was no apology following the report’s release.