Turks claim harassment by officials at Israeli airport

A group of Turkish air passengers claimed they were harassed and intimidated at a Tel Aviv airport yesterday as fallout from the diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey spreads. Late last week, Turkey ejected the Israeli ambassador from the country after Israel refused to apologize for a deadly military raid on a Gaza-bound ship that resulted in the deaths of nine Turks last year. Israel expressed regret for the loss of lives but was not prepared to apologize for upholding its naval blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza that the ship had tried to breach. Reports of airport harassment first emanated from Turkey, where media reported that Turkish passengers on a Turkish Airlines flight said they were harassed at the security check-in in Israel before departing for Istanbul. Turkish travelers arriving in Israel yesterday were also harassed by security, the Anatolia news agency reported. Turkish citizen Mustafa Teke, who travelled to Israel for the nine-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, told the Anatolia new agency that Turkish tourists were searched several times in a special room at Ben Gurion International Airport. He said only Turkish tourists were taken to the special room and that they were humiliated. Similar claims came from a group of Israeli air passengers who said they were harassed at an Istanbul airport. Later on Monday, dozens of Israeli passengers on flights between Tel Aviv and İstanbul reported that Turkish security officials at Ataturk International Airport briefly took their passports and questioned them, a passenger and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.