26-04-2024 03:16 AM Jerusalem Timing

Turkey Charges Top Israeli Officials on Mavi Marmara

Turkey Charges Top Israeli Officials on Mavi Marmara

Istanbul 7th Criminal Court unanimously accepted an indictment against four top Israeli commanders over "Mavi Marmara".

Mavi MarmaraIstanbul 7th Criminal Court on Monday unanimously accepted an indictment against four top Zionist commanders who were on duty when the "Mavi Marmara" aid ship bound for Gaza came under attack of Zionist troops in May 2010, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

A prosecutor in Turkey demanded, on May 23, nine aggravated life imprisonment sentences for four top Zionist generals each including the country's chief of military staff over the killing of nine Turks aboard a vessel in a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

The 144-page indictment prepared by Istanbul Prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci sought life imprisonment sentences for former Zionist Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Naval Forces commander Eliezer Marom, Zionist military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and Air Forces Intelligence head Avishai Levi for their involvement in the attack on the Mavi Marmara, the chief vessel in the Free Gaza convoy.

Apart from life imprisonment, the indictment also demands prison terms for the top four commanders up to 18 thousand years in total for other crimes allegedly committed during the raid.

The indictment also includes 490 victims and plaintiffs, including 189 people who were injured in the attacks.

The indictment rejected Zionist claims that ‘Israeli’ commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara acted in self defense, saying that the commandos used un-proportionate force by firing with heavy weapons and automatic rifles on passengers who only carried "plastic flag masts, spoons and forks."

The incident brought Turkish-Zionist relations to a historic low.

Ankara demanded a formal apology from the occupying entity for the killings. Turkey has also expelled its Zionist ambassador and suspended military agreements it penned with the country.