One of the many inhumane aspects of Israel’s murderous raid on the aid flotilla Monday has been its tardiness in releasing the names of the killed and wounded and its holding of nearly all the kidnapped flotilla participants incommunicado in massive, specially organized temporary prisons. This has left family members of most participants in anguish, not knowing if their loved ones were among those killed and injured.
Turkey has now been able to extract from the Israelis the names of four Turkish flotilla participants who were killed Monday. They are:
- İbrahim Bilgen,
Ali Haydar Bengi,
Ali Ekber Yaratılmış and
Muharrem Koçak.
RIP, friends Bilgen, Bengi, Yaratılmış, and Koçak, and my heartfelt condolences to your families.
By the way, that report in Today’s Zaman that i linked to there has a lot more information about the detained flotilla participants. Turkey has done an exemplary job of trying to protect the interests of those of its nationals who were participating in the flotilla. It would be great if all other governments, including my own, could do such a good job.
Though the Israeli authorities at first threatened to “prosecute” those flotilla participants whom it accused of having used violence against the soldiers who attacked the ships– and they were keeping all participants in detention on the pretext they needed to “screen” them regarding such charges– it now appears they have backed down completely, at least in the case of the Turkish participants.
As I wrote here yesterday, there is a powerful current in international law that holds that it is Turkey, as the nation that flagged the Mavi Marmara, that should have jurisdiction over any incidents of violence that occurred aboard the ship while it is in international waters… and of course, the assault against it by armed Israeli commandos is one such act of (great) violence that could and should be investigated and punished by Turkey.
Meanwhile, we should appeal to Israel and all other governments to get the names of those killed, injured, and detained released as soon as possible– and of course, to get all those persons immediately released from their illegal detention, as well.
RIP, friends Bilgen, Bengi, Yaratılmış, and Koçak, and my heartfelt condolences to your families.
You have displayed a brand of courage which transcended self-interest – a concept alien to the people who murdered you.
I am terribly sorry for the lost of lives on any side. However, by any reasonable criteria they got what they have been asking for. I invite any of you to resist arrest by a local policeman using metal rods and knives and see what are you chances to survive this encounter. http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/8/0LulDJh4fWI – many of you understand Hebrew, don’t you? and there is a running English translation. See interview with two of the soldiers (although you won’t believe the dirty Jewish liars, would you?) http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/18/C9p5QT91QYs