A group of human rights organisations and activists announced late Friday they are set to send a flotilla consisting of four ships from Istanbul to Gaza next week, defying Israel’s blockade on the Gaza enclave.
Two ships are designated for activists, while a third, currently docked in Turkey’s Iskenderun, will carry 5.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
Another ship is expected to join from Italy. Approximately 1,000 people will participate in the voyage, accompanied by 100 journalists with internet and satellite connections.
Despite that the activists are conscious that ‘Israel’ might target them as it did to the Mavi Marmara in 2010, the members of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) spoke from a dockyard in Istanbul’s Tuzla, on board the Akdeniz ship, one of the four vessels, expressing their wholehearted determination to reach Gaza.
‘People are eager to sail to Gaza and be part of this historic mission,” sais Mustafa Ozbek from Humanitairian Relief Foundation.
The press conference was attended by activists from nine civil society organisations, including the US Boat to Gaza, the Canada Boat to Gaza, FFC Norway, International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza, FFC, Doctors Without Borders, Malaysia My Care, the US group Code Pink, and the US National Lawyers Guild.
This initiative evokes memories of the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010 when the Israeli army raided the ship in international waters and killed ten foreign activists. The incident strained Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations significantly.
This time, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), the primary organizor of the coalition, has undertaken extensive preparations, including the acquisition of three ships.
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