Turkey Threatens to Cut Ties With Israel

Turkey will cut diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologizes for the flotilla raid that killed 9 Turks or accepts an international probe into the deaths, said the country's foreign minister. The statement was the most explicit to date from a high-level Turkish official about the conditions for improving strained ties with Israel.

Israel insists commandos involved in the raid acted in self-defense after being attacked by pro-Palestinian activists, and has launched its own probe into the incident. But Turkey says that Israel must agree to an international probe instead. "Israelis have three options: They will either apologize or acknowledge an international-impartial inquiry and its conclusion. Otherwise, our diplomatic ties will be cut off," said Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday.
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