WE CONDEMN THE MILITARY OPERATION TO THE FLOTILLA

Evaluating the attacks of Israel to ships carrying aid to Gaza, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said: "It is impossible to accept that such an attack was made to a ship carrying humanitarian aid. We condemn this attack."

In his speech during his visit to Italy, Bagis said: "Upon the attacks, our Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan interrupted his visit to Latin America and our Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu went to New York". Bagis also declared that it was essential for the international environment to adopt a decisive manner.

Bagis stated that the attacks deeply saddened Turkish people including the Jewish people in Turkey. Bagis explained that he had been receiving calls from the Jewish authorities in Turkey and he said: "The attacks also saddened Jewish people in Turkey and they approved the Turkey's reactions."

Bagis expressed his condolences to the families of the people died in the attacks and he said: "First of all, I want to say that may God have mercy on the people died. I severely condemn these attacks."

Pointing that attacks to aid ships were also mentioned in his meeting with Frattini; Bagis said:

"We brought up this issue into the agenda with the Italian Minister. They are also in a great shock. European Union wants this case to be investigated. Spain, currently holding the EU presidency issued condemnation. Our Italian friends share our sadness about this issue. Especially, I also want to underline the shock caused by the attack to our naval base in Iskenderun."

With regard to the issue, Bagis talked on the phone with Stefan Füle, EU Commissioner for the Enlargement and with Pierre Lellouche, France's Europe Minister.

After completing his visits in Italy, Bagis held a press meeting at the Turkish Embassy in Rome. At his speech, Bagis pointed that the aim of his visit to Rome was to carry out talks about Turkey's accession negotiations but at each meeting, attacks of Israel were also mentioned. Bagis said: "Talking about the case of the violent attacks in the international waters, to our ships carrying humanitarian aid and asking for being sensitive to the issue became a privileged issue. This issue turned out to be the most important item of our agenda at all of our meetings."

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis summarised the framework of his meetings with his colleagues in Rome about the issue and he said:

"We explained our colleagues that this attitude of Israel does not comply with the international law and unilateral embargo to Gaza does not have a legal base. We have the chance to express that people carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza were not only Turkish citizens but citizens of 33 countries among whom there are religious men with different beliefs, representatives of different professions, various intellectuals, volunteers and journalists."

Source: AA