Turkey mulls cutting relations with Israel

ANKARA, Turkey, June 4 (UPI) -- Turkey may cut relations with Israel over the Israeli storming of a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted since Israeli commandos boarded the six-ship Freedom Flotilla off the Gaza coast Monday, killing nine people and wounding dozens of others.

Arinc said Friday economic and military ties would be reduced along with all other bilateral involvement, Russia's RIA Novosti reported.

"We are serious on this issue. New cooperation will not start and relations with Israel will be reduced," Arinc said. "Israel lives in fear, and that caused the attack on civilians by the Israeli military. This fear can be overcome by stopping the unfair treatment of Palestinians."

Autopsy results indicated the nine men killed during the confrontation died of gunshot wounds and five of them had been shot in the head, Dr. Haluk Ince, the director of Istanbul's Medical Examination Institute, said Friday.

Ince said at least one of the nine was shot in the head from a distance estimated at between less than 1 inch and about 5 1/2 inches, CNN reported.

He said Furkan Dogan, 19, a dual national Turkish-American citizen, had bullet wounds in his head and several bullets in his body, the report said.

Dogan was born in Troy, N.Y., and was living in Turkey, the U.S. State Department said.

Prosecutors in Istanbul are expected to receive the autopsy reports in about a month. Turkish activists have urged the government to sue Israel over the deaths.

Israel, which has maintained a years-long blockade of Gaza, said the flotilla was carrying materials for insurgents and its organizers had ties to terrorist groups. Israeli leaders said the troops were acting in self-defense because they were attacked by activists while boarding a Turkish-flagged ship.

Turkey said it plans to petition the International Crimes Court about the Israeli raid.

Turkish media report the country's attorney general plans to argue that Israel violated maritime law when commandos boarded a ship in the flotilla, Ynetnews.com reported.

Turkey reportedly will pursue two claims, the Israeli news agency said. The first would seek compensation for families of the dead and wounded. The second would claim Israel violated international maritime law by raiding the Turkish-flagged ship in international waters.

Israel has suffered withering international criticism and demands for investigations, including one from the United States, one of Israel's staunchest allies.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the raid a "tragic situation" during an appearance on CNN.

"You've got loss of life that was unnecessary. So we are calling for an effective investigation of everything that happened," Obama said. "I think the Israelis are going to agree to that -- an investigation of international standards -- because they recognize that this can't be good for Israel's long-term security."

Obama said the flotilla raid and its aftermath offered a chance for leaders to search for ways to meet Israel's security issues, open opportunities for Palestine and "bring everybody together to figure out how can we get a two-state solution where the Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side in peace and security."

In remarks before the Turkish Parliament, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Jerusalem against "testing Turkey's patience."

"The international flotilla to Gaza was legal and the raid on it was in violation of the spirit of the United Nations," Erdogan said. "(This) unprovoked attack was a blow to international peace and contrary to international law."