Turkey denies assisting Gaza flotilla organisers
by Chaim Levinson, Haaretz
Data found on the laptop of a passenger on 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 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, where participants were the heads of the organizations involved and the captains of the vessels.
Dror Feiler, a former Israeli who lives in Sweden and who participated in the meeting and was on the flotilla, confirmed to Haaretz details of the meeting and the context in which the statements were made. Jasiwicz was not available for comment.
Under the headline “Strategy at Sea,” the organizers made a number of decisions on how to counter an IDF assault. It was decided that each of the six groups participating in the flotilla would select someone who would be part of the decision makers. They would be positioned on the Mavi Marmara, which was the flagship of the flotilla.
Various scenarios were discussed: In the case shots were fired, simply as a challenge or a warning, they were to carry on and at the same time work through the media and politically. If the firing was targeted, they were to stop and evaluate the situation.
According to the record, the organizers were not opposed to the aid they were carrying being taken to the Gaza Strip through Israel. “Of course we are not opposed to the cargo being taken to Gaza, but we must stress that . . . our mission is not to bring aid to Gaza but human rights to the Palestinian people. Therefore we will not agree to the transfer of the cargo [by Israeli authorities] to Gaza.”
Another released document is an internal document of Free Gaza, entitled “Strategy.” The document was authored on March 7, 2010, and details the poor financial state of the organization, the preparations for the flotilla, scenarios for confrontations with IDF soldiers, preparations and instructions on dealing with imprisonment, political and public relations goals in the media.
A large portion of the document deals with response scenarios to Israeli behavior. The strategy that was decided was that there would be no turning back at any price, which would make the only way of stopping them the use of force.
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