Turkey denies offering assistance to Gaza flotilla organizers

[shira]

Data found on a laptop of a passenger of last May’s Gaza bound flotilla indicates that the flotilla’s organizers received assistance from the highest levels of the Turkish government, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Edogan and other senior government officials.

Records of the meeting between the heads of the six groups behind the flotilla, in Istanbul, two weeks prior to embarkation and other similar documents were found on laptop computers confiscated by the Israel Defense Forces following the takeover of the flotilla. The documents suggest long-term and detailed preparations by the organizers, months in advance, including readying for various scenarios, including the landing of commandos on the ships using ropes from helicopters. The Turkish government denies offering any assistance to the flotilla’s organizers.

Immediately after the takeover of the ships on May 31, the IDF confiscated all computers and documents on the vessels. The material was taken to the intelligence analysts, and some of it went to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, an organization that is authorized to analyze intelligence, headed by Dr. Reuven Erlich. The ITIC released the information in a report earlier this month.

The most significant document of the batch, which sheds light on the role of the government of Turkey, was found on the laptop of a Polish journalist, Ewa Jasiwicz, who is a member of the Free Gaza Movement, part of the coalition of groups that took part in the flotilla. The document is a record of a meeting held in Istanbul on 16 May, and participants were the heads of the organizations involved and the captains of the vessels.

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http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/turkey-denies-offering-assistance-to-gaza-flotilla-organizers-1.320328