Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınc belied the rumors about the Turkish government’s refusal of aid offers from Israel government, called them ‘ugly’.

Ankara / NationalTurk –  ‘Whoever is doing this [spreading rumors of Turkey’s refusal of aid from Israel] is doing something horrendous’ Deputy PM Arinc stated. ‘ Turkish Government may not be on the best of terms with our Israel counterparts on a governmental basis. Yet to respond negatively to such humane offers of Israel in the wake of such disaster would have been wrong and inappropriate. It is completely untrue that we refused their help for on separate agendas.’ Israel offered Turkey aid after Turkey earthquake but Turkey ‘ kindly ‘ refused it on account of the fact that Turkey is able to sustain its needs in a disaster.

Turkey Israel Relations

In September 2011, Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador after Israel refused to apologize for the killing of nine activists with Turkish citizenship (one was also a United States citizen) in the Gaza flotilla raid following a UN report that found that the blockade of Gaza was legal according to international law but that excessive force was used when boarding the ship. Turkey Israel relations hit rock bottom since.