Israel tried to silence Flotilla victims

On Thursday, Ramazan Ariturk, one of the lawyers representing 465 victims and victims’ relatives, revealed Israel’s proposal to pay his clients a lump sum of USD six million. He said the Israeli regime had made the offer to him through an intermediary foreign ambassador in Ankara just over a month ago. He said the money would have been paid to a Jewish foundation in Turkey for distribution followed by an “apology” from Tel Aviv in order to settle lawsuits against the Israeli military. Ariturk said he had told the unnamed ambassador that he would not accept the offer as it was not moral. The lawyer added that he had informed the Turkish Foreign Ministry of Israel’s proposal and his rejection, adding that officials with the ministry said his decision had been appropriate and thanked him for the refusal. On May 31, 2010, Israeli forces attacked the humanitarian Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish nationals and injuring about 50 other activists, who were part of the six-ship convoy. A Turkish national, Suleyman Soylemez, who was injured during the attack, is still in coma, according to Turkish media. A Tel Aviv-imposed siege has been depriving 1.6 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip of food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities since mid-June 2007.