In Cold Blood: Execution on the High Seas

Gareth Porter: UN Fact-Finding Mission Says Israelis "Executed" US Citizen Furkan Dogan

 An Israeli speedboat escorts the Mavi Marmara near the port of Ashdod on May 31, 2010.

In May 2012, an Istanbul court approved an indictment seeking multiple life sentences for the Israeli military men in the massacre on the high seas, and the trial opens on Tuesday.

The 144-page indictment had called for nine life sentences to be given to each of the four former Israeli commanders.

The accused -- former military chief of staff Gaby Ashkenazi, former Navy chief Eliezer Marom, former military intelligence head Amos Yadlin, and former Air Force intelligence chief Avishai Levy -- are unlikely to attend the trial.

"We had identified some of the Israeli commandos involved in the raid but I think the prosecutor was not able to verify from the Israeli side," Buhari Cetinkaya, one of the five plaintiff lawyers, said.

"So the case landed on the four Israeli commanders, as the decision passed down through a mechanism headed by these people," the lawyer added.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the first Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish citizens, including a teenager with Turkish-US dual citizenship, on board the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other people who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, which is a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

After Israel's assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Tel Aviv slightly eased the land blockade of Gaza, allowing in more consumer goods.

However, the naval siege of the Gaza Strip remains in place, exports are banned, and imports of raw materials and construction materials are restricted.

GJH/HGL
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/06/270653/turkey-to-try-israel...

Turkey tries ex-Israeli commanders over Mavi Marmara raid

The Mavi Marmara was headed towards the Gaza coast when Israeli commandos boarded it

A court in Istanbul is to try in absentia four ex-Israeli military commanders over the deadly raid of a Turkish boat as it tried to break the blockade of Gaza in 2010.

Nine Turkish activists died in clashes after the Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara. Seven of the commandos were also wounded.

The incident led to a major rift in relations between Turkey and Israel.

If the four are convicted, the court could issue a warrant for their arrest.

The Mavi Marmara was carrying 600 pro-Palestinian activists towards the Gaza coast when it was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters in May 2010.

Israel insists that its commandos acted in self-defence after they came under attack by Turkish activists on the boat.

The Israeli embassy in Ankara has called the trial a "unilateral political act with no judicial credibility".

More here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20215991