ANKARA, Turkey, April 23 (UPI) -- Turkey says it's blocking Israel's inclusion in a NATO summit in Chicago until Israel issues "a formal apology" for an attack on a Turkish ship in 2010.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vetoed Israel's participation in the summit -- scheduled May 20-21 -- during a NATO foreign ministers' meeting last week in Brussels, the Hurriyet Daily News reported Monday.
Davutoglu cited Israel's attack on the ship Mavi Marmara that resulted in the deaths of eight Turks and one Turkish-American citizen.
"There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters," a Turkish official told the Hurriyet Daily News.
"There are demands from us for the removal of our veto but this is out of question," the official said.
Some foreign ministers, including those of the United States and France, have criticized Turkey for bringing its issues with Israel to the NATO platform, calling it a violation of NATO's values.
"You are talking about being partners and partnership values. But partners, first of everything, should act like partners, so that we'll treat them accordingly," Davutoglu said in response.
"The army of a country [Israel], which you call a partner, killed our citizens upon a political order given by its administration. We do not call this kind of country a partner."
