The Mavi Marmara passenger ship that was part of a six-vessel flotilla taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and on which nine Turks died might be transformed into a museum, said the head of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), which organized the flotilla.
The Mavi Marmara passenger ship was part of a six-vessel flotilla taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on which nine Turks died.
İHH President Bülent Yıldırım, speaking at a panel on the history and future of Palestine on Sunday, shared information with the audience regarding the damage the Mavi Marmara sustained during the Israeli raid in international waters. Nine civilians died in Israel’s attack.
Yıldırım thanked all of Turkey’s political parties and media organization’s for supporting the İHH in a conflict that sparked the biggest diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey in history. Israel took months to return the ships, Yıldırım said, adding: “These people are so cruel that they actually broke equipment on the ships. They broke all the machines. Thank God, the boats are back. What will we do with the Mavi Marmara now? We will probably turn it into a museum. They have their Holocaust museums. Yes, Hitler massacred Jews. But now they are massacring Muslims in Palestine.”
The Mavi Marmara incident was met by anti-Israeli reactions in many parts of the world. Israel has said the soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked as they boarded the ship. Turkey, on the other hand, is demanding an apology from Israel and compensation for the families of the victims. Israel has not consented to Turkey’s demands for an apology and compensation. The UN Human Rights Council’s independent fact-finding mission of high-level experts has also started an investigation into the incident. The UN mission is charged with determining whether any violations of international law or human rights law took place during the flotilla raid. Its report is expected to be presented at the council’s next session in September.