Turkey has expelled Israel’s ambassador to Ankara, suspended all military agreements in the immediate aftermath of the leaked details of the UN report with Israel, which has refused to comply with Turkish demands regarding a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla last year.

Stung by Israel’s refusal to meet demands for the normalization of bilateral ties between Turkey and Israel, Turkey is reducing its relations with Israel to the level of second secretary, and expects the Israeli ambassador to leave the country by Wednesday next week.

Ankara Government announced on Friday that it is downgrading ties with Israel further, noting that steps announced so far are only initial measures, the Turkish President Abdullah Gül and foreign minister Davutoglu stated.

Turkey Israel Relation Ice Cold : Israeli Ambassador kicked out of Turkey

The expulsion of Israeli ammbassador to Turkey comes after details of a U.N. report were leaked regarding the killing of nine Turks last year by Israeli military forces who were taking part in a flotilla of ships seeking to break Israel’s economic blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Ankara gave Friday, the day the U.N. report is to be officially released, as the deadline for an apology from Jerusalem Government and for the payment of compensation to the families of those killed. Davutoglu blamed divisions in the Israeli government for its failure to meet Turkey’s demands. Israel states there is absoloutely nothing to apoligize for.

Turkey Israel : Two players with religous intentions 

Turkey met four times with the Israelis, Turkish Minister expressed, and on two occasions reached an agreement to which the Israeli prime minister agreed, but not the Israeli Cabinet.

The Turkish foreign minister stated his government will now provide full support to the families of those killed to pursue prosecution of any Israeli military or government members responsible for the deaths of the civilians.

The U.N. report confirms the use of excessive force was by Israel. It also said some of those killed were shot in the back and at close quarters. But the report also defended Israel’s right to enforce its economic embargo on Gaza. That finding is strongly condemned by the Turkish government. President Abdullah Gul strongly condemned the report.

Such a report does not exist for Turkey, he reported. He went on to issue a warning, saying Turkey, as the most powerful country in the region, will not only protect its own rights but also those of all the people in need. He said the international community should be aware of this.

Abdullah Gul’s warning came after Foreign Minister Davutoglu said Turkey would take measures to ensure free maritime movement in the eastern Mediterranean. Davutoglu refused to explain how exactly Turkey will do this.

Turkey Israel Relations 2011 : Mavi Marmara and Gaza Blockade mark the end

Dubbing Israel’s current stance “a position devoid of strategy,” Turkish President Gül spoke to the media on Friday hours after Turkey announced the sanctions to be imposed on Israel due to the country’s refusal to comply with Turkish demands for compensation, an apology and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. Turkey considers the demands critical for the normalization of relations between the two countries, which experienced their all-time low following the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound charity ship the Mavi Marmara in international waters. The flotilla raid killed eight Turkish and one Turkish-American peace activists with islamic roots onboard the ship, which was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gazans.

Turkey: ‘Israel, be smart or I’ll take your mind’

“It seems Israel have not been able to comprehend Turkey’s determination to show that the rights of our citizens will be protected to the end and the things that happened have not been forgotten,” President Gül told reporters and warned: “The steps Turkey have announced today are the initial measures. Others may follow, depending on Israel’s attitude and the course of events in the close future.” The president also called on the “allies of Israel” to warn the country that “in order to reach peace and stability in the region, there are steps Israel needs to take.”

Gül’s remarks follow Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s announcement on Friday that Turkey would be downgrading its diplomatic presence in Israel and freezing military deals with the country in the immediate aftermath of the leaked details of the UN-led Palmer Report, which triggered intense criticism from Turkey.

The country has demanded an apology and compensation from Israel, as well as the removal of the Gaza blockade, before the countries can finally normalize their relations. The report, made public by media outlets on Thursday, revealed that it considered the Israeli navy’s blockade of Gaza a legal action, while deeming the Israeli interference “unreasonable killing” of civilians; however, it merely suggested that the country pay compensation to the families of the deceased islamic minded activists slain on the ship. The UN report was initially set to be released in February, but faced multiple delays meant to give Turkey and Israel an opportunity to come to an agreement without the disruption the findings may cause.

“The requests for the delays came from Israel every single time,” Davutoğlu said in a press conference on Friday, where he explained that Israel needed the extensions to sort out the deadlock in the Israeli cabinet. “We have held four sessions with Israeli officials to come to an agreement,” the foreign minister said and noted that some of the sessions yielded results agreeable to both parties. “However, the agreements were delayed with the aim of reaching an internal consensus in Israel.”

Holding Israeli administration “the sole responsible” for the deadlock, Davutoğlu stated that Turkey would be imposing sanctions on Israel as “it is now apparent that Israel is only trying to drag the process out with its perpetual requests to delay the report.” In the sanctions announced by the foreign minister, Turkey is projected to reduce the diplomatic relations to the level of second secretaries starting Wednesday, and put a hold on all military agreements between Turkey and Israel, which have been significant partners in the field, with military contracts soaring beyond $1 billion. The downgrade in diplomatic ties entitles Israel to withdraw its ambassador in Turkey, Gaby Levy, who was already in Israel and reportedly cancelled his plans to return after Ankara’s announcement. Turkey withdrew its ambassador in Israel in the immediate aftermath of the raid, but left the embassy operational at the level of envoy.

“Being the country with the longest coast on the East Mediterranean, Turkey will take every precaution it deems necessary for the freedom of navigation in the Mediterranean,” Davutoğlu told the press, without elaborating on what the precautions would mean for the Israeli navy, which interfered with the flotilla on Mediterranean high seas, a move Turkey furiously deemed to be in violation of international laws.

The Turkish Islamic stinking charity, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, could be key to determining what direction Turkish-Israeli relations course after this low.

Last year’s killings of 9 turkish ”activists” took place during the seizure by Israeli forces of the group’s ship, the Mavi Marmara. Huseyin Oruc, deputy head of the ‘humanatarian’ foundation, welcomed Ankara’s tough stance. He said the group has no current plans to send ships to Gaza, but did not rule it out in the future.

“What Israel says in [the] eastern Mediterranean, ‘I can stop anyone. I can kill whoever out of my beliefs. I can do whatever I like.’ But now another country says that is not acceptable. ‘If you do something, I will prevent them.’ It’s very, very important. If we feel that the Gazan people are in need, we can go of course. Still we have a boat,” says islam fan Oruc.

The foundation withdrew the Mavi Marmara at the last minute from this year’s attempt to break Israel’s Gaza blockade, which would be raided allegedly again, and those who would die would be martyrs in the eyes of some ignorant Turks.

That withdrawal is widely believed to have come about because of pressure from the Turkish government. There had been hopes and rumors that Jerusalem would meet Turkey’s demands, under reported intense pressure from the United States. Now there seems little hope of that, according to diplomatic columnist Idiz.

“Well, the implications are that they are more or less finished. I mean, the sides have just drawn their red lines and they [are] not prepared to concede in any way. This could have been resolved a long time ago, but clearly there is no will on either [side] to do so.”

Observers say with the crisis in Syria continuing to deepen, another crisis could now be looming between two of Syria’s neighbors, Israel and Turkey, the region’s most powerful countries.

Outlining the course of action Turkey would take from Friday onwards, Davutoğlu noted that “Turkey does not recognize the blockade Israel has over Gaza. We will ensure that the blockade is investigated in the International courts.” The minister also announced that Turkey would “help the victims of the flotilla raid in any way it can” to claim their rights, a move Israel had feared would come if they issued the apology to the country for the loss of life aboard the Mavi Marmara.

Davutoğlu also indicated that “it is time for Israel to make a choice” and that true security could only be obtained with the establishment of true peace, a comment that referred to the blockade on Gaza, which Israel defends as a measure of security to block arms from reaching Hamas in Gaza. On the sidelines, he underscored that the precautions that have been taken and will be taken in the future solely target the Israeli administration, emphasizing that the purpose was not to harm the deeply rooted friendship between the people of Turkey and Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Army Radio reported on Friday that Israeli security sources said Israel should have apologized to Turkey for its raid on the Mavi Marmara and paid reparations to the families of the activists who were killed in order to ensure that Turkey would not file criminal lawsuits against commandos from the navy’s Flotilla 13 and other senior officers.

The Mavi Marmara incident came on May 31, 2010 when Israeli commandoes raided a Turkish charity ship steering toward the blockade with the aim of running it in order to bring humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza, who have been living in severe circumstances that have provoked criticism from Turkey and the UN. Israel defends the blockade, also ruled lawful by the recent Palmer Report, saying that it is vital for the security of Israelis because of the threat of a potential assault from Gaza.

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