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Turkey Hosts Eurasia Summit Amid Tensions With Israel

   VOA News 07 June 2010
   Turkish  PM  Recep  Tayyip  Erdogan (R) adjusts his earphones together
   with Syrian President Bashar Assad (L) during a joint press conference
   in Istanbul, 07 Jun 2010

Photo: AP

   Turkish  PM  Recep  Tayyip  Erdogan (R) adjusts his earphones together
   with Syrian President Bashar Assad (L) during a joint press conference
   in Istanbul, 07 Jun 2010

   Turkish  Prime  Minister  Recep  Tayyip  Erdogan  says  Israel must be
   punished  for last week's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, in
   which eight Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish origin died.
   Mr.  Erdogan  spoke  Monday  in  a  joint  news conference with Syrian
   President  Bashir  al-Assad  during  a regional meeting on security in
   Asia.   The  summit  is  expected  to  pressure  Israel  to  allow  an
   international investigation of the raid.
   Earlier,  Turkish  Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called for such an
   investigation,  saying  Israel's  actions  were unlawful.  Israel has
   rejected  an  international  inquiry into the incident, saying it will
   conduct its own investigation.
   Leaders  from  Russia,  Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are among those
   attending   the  summit  in  Istanbul,  known  as  the  Conference  on
   Interaction and Confidence Building Measures. Â
   Palestinian  leader  Mahmoud  Abbas  is  in  Istanbul for the meeting.
   Israel was expected to be represented by a diplomat based in Turkey.
   Turkey said it would reduce military and trade ties with Israel unless
   it apologizes for the raid last week.
   Turkish  President Abdullah Gul is to hold talks with his counterparts
   from Syria and Iran later Monday.
   Last  Monday,  eight Turks and an American of Turkish origin died when
   Israeli commandos raided their ship -- part of an aid convoy organized
   by  a  Turkish  group  trying to break Israel's three-year blockade of
   Hamas-ruled Gaza.
   Turkey has condemned Israel for the raid.  Turkish media has reported
   that  Ankara  is also pursuing a possible criminal case against Israel
   in international court.
   Israel  has  defended  its  actions  during the raid saying its troops
   opened fire in self-defense and only after they were attacked.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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