Israel Matzav

So they lied... Turkey to take Israel to ICC over Mavi Marmara

Armed with Prime Minister Netanyahu's foolish confession of guilt, Turkey is breaking its word and taking Israel to the International Criminal Court over the Mavi Marmara incident. Okay, technically the Marmara 'victims' are taking Israel to court through the proxy of the Union of Comoros, but really this is a Turkish action. This is from the first link.

The lawyers of the victims of the Mavi Marmara raid, Dr. Ramadan Ariturk and Gokdemir Jihad, have been filed a case for the prosecution of Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of the Union of the Comoros.

On May 31, 2010, Israel committed “war crimes” by attacking the Mavi Marmara, which carried the flag of the Union of Comoros, and other ships in the Gaza Freedom Fleet and killing 9 civilian aid volunteers including 8 Turkish citizens and 1 American citizen.

The Union of Comoros is one of the signatories of the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and is thus eligible to apply to the court seeking prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Comoros is not exactly coming with clean hands.  The Mavi Marmara was flagged by Comoros 8 days before the incident off Gaza (May 22, 2010).  This was after IHH bought the Mavi Marmara from a Turkish owner, apparently in early May 2010.  (Mavi Marmara was previously MS Beydagi and flagged in Turkey.  She was not used as an ocean-going vessel at that time, but as a ferry, wholly within Turkish waters.  That’s why there’s no international record of her flag or callsign before 2010.)

Ankara is about as trustworthy when it comes to its negotiators’ word as Pyongyang, Khartoum, or Tehran. It seeks not justice, but Israel’s eradication. The fact that this occurs just two days before President Obama hosts Erdoğan at the White House is nothing but one more attempt by the Turkish leader to fake friendship at the White House, all the while signaling to his constituents that he has restored Turkish pride not only by targeting Israel, but by humiliating the United States as well.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Comoros, IHH, International Criminal Court, Mavi Marmara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:24 PM