Istanbul: The three Turkish MPs detained by Israel after attacking the Freedom Flotilla ships in international waters off the Gaza Strip returned to Turkey on Thursday. A Turkish Airlines plane transported MP Sema Selkin On and MPs Mehmet Atmaca and Necmettin Caliskan from Azerbaijan after they arrived there from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The three MPs then returned to Turkey, where they held a press conference upon their arrival at Istanbul Airport.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, MP On said that Israel attacked the “Conscience” ship without any regard for international law, adding that they were taken to the port of Ashdod on a 15-hour journey. She noted that they were going to be imprisoned, but instead found themselves at the airport and were then transferred to a police station where they were held in separate rooms for 12 hours until their flight to Azerbaijan was arranged. She added, “Our journey began with ‘Sumud’ and concluded with ‘Conscience’ and the Freedom Flotilla. The path paved by ‘Sumud’ and the victory it achieved was crowned by ‘Conscience’ and the Freedom Flotilla.”
For his part, Chalishkan emphasized that the most important issue today is preventing starvation and genocide, and that the entire world has witnessed firsthand the brutality perpetrated by the Zionist murderers against humanity. After these flotillas, a wave of hatred against the murderous Zionists has risen across the world. He said, “Israel is a cowardly entity, and its officials are not government employees but a group of armed teenagers belonging to a terrorist organization. We have seen this in all their administrators.” Therefore, this entity is doomed to disappear as long as we continue to defend the Palestinian cause.
MP Atmaja emphasized that they set out aware of all the types of treatment they might face from Israel. He said, “We have confirmed once again that Israel is not a state in the true sense of the word. It does not respect law or international law, and has no concept of justice. Rather, it is, in fact, a terrorist organization, and its employees act as members of the organization.” He pointed out that the Steadfastness and Freedom Flotillas were an attempt to form a civil initiative, emphasizing that the goal was achieved even though the blockade was not broken. He continued, “Reaching the shores of Gaza did not necessarily break the blockade, but it contributed greatly to drawing the attention of the peoples of the world to this issue. That is why it was a very valuable and important step, and we are happy to have participated in it.”
The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza announced last Wednesday that the Freedom Flotilla heading to the Palestinian Strip had been attacked by Israel in international waters, days after its attack on the Steadfastness Flotilla. The flotilla set out The “Freedom Flotilla,” which comprised 11 ships, set sail a few days ago, carrying civilian activists and humanitarian aid for the besieged Gaza Strip, where some 2.4 million Palestinians live in catastrophic conditions. A week ago, Israel attacked the “Resilience Flotilla,” an international flotilla attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea as it sailed toward the Palestinian enclave. Israel arbitrarily detained hundreds of activists on board, before releasing most of them, amid reports of their being subjected to “torture” and “ill-treatment.”