After the attack of the Isreaeli military on a flotilla of aid ships carrying humanitarian help for Gaza on 31 May, volunteers and journalists were brought back from Israel to Turkey in three Turkish Airlines planes yesterday (2 June). The activists arrived at the Atatürk Airport in Istanbul late at night. The bodies of nine people who were killed during the attack were taken to Istanbul as well. The volunteers and the bodies of the deceased were brought to the Forensic Medicine Institute.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu made an announcement at the airport, saying that 466 civilans and four MPs arrived in Istanbul, including about 50 non-Turkish people.
First stop at Forensic Medicine Institute
As reported by several newspapers and the ntvmsnbc.com news site, the activists were welcomed by Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. The wounded activists were taken to hospital and some of them made the victory sign when they were transferred to the ambulances. Italian activists shouted "Terrorist Isreal" at the entrance of the State Guesthouse. Subsequent to the passport control and an identity check, the activists were taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute.
Another group in Ankara
17 injured activists were taken to Ankara by ambulance planes provided by the Ministry of Health and the Turkish Armed Forces. They arrived the same evening.
The ambulance plane by the Health Ministry arrived in Ankara at 11.40 pm and carried Turkish citizen Imdat Avli and Irish activist Almathi Alharati. 17 injured people were flown in by military ambulance planes at 1.00 am. The injured persons were welcomed at the Etimesgut Airport by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Health Minister Recep Akdağ.
The wounded activists were amitted to the Ankara Atatürk Research Hospital. Two people still receive medical treatment in Isreal due to the severity of injuries.
The following injured people were brought to Ankara: Osman Çalık, Mehmet Yıldırım, İsmail Yeşildağ, Abdülhamit Ateş, Muharrem Güneş, Reveha Gümrükçü, Kenan Akçil, Canip Tunç, Mustafa Beterhan, Ekrem Küçükköse, Fatih Kavaktar, Mustafa Bakırhan, Adem Bakıcı, Muhyettin Yıldırım, Erkan Bayfidan, Suat Coşmaz, Sadettin Furkan, Murat Taşkın.
35 people flown to Athens
Another 35 people from the aid ships were flown into Athens with a Greek aircraft.
Officials of the Greek Air Force announced that 31 Greek citizens, 3 French and 1 US American activist landed at the Elefsina military airport close to Athens. Another 6 Greek volunteers had previously returned to their home country.
Yunanistan Hava Kuvvetleri yetkilileri, Atina yakınlarındaki Elefsina askeri havaalanına inen uçakta 31 Yunan, 3 Fransız ve 1 ABD vatandaşı yardım gönüllüsü bulunduğunu açıkladı. Yunanistan'dan katılan 6 insani yardım gönüllüsü daha önce ülkesine dönmüştü.
Several journalists among activists
Among the activists on the aid ships were Yeni Şafak newspaper writer Hakan Albayrak, reporter Murat Palavar, a team from TV Net including Sümeyye Ertekin, Ersin Esen and Ümit Sönmez, Humanitarian Help Foundation (İHH) General Director Bülent Yıldırım, actor Sinan Albayrak, a team from Vakit newspaper including Ahmet Varol, Mustafa Özcan, Ahmet Can Karahsanoğlu and Kemal Güneş, Taraf newspaper reporter Ayşe Sarıoğlu and several other journalists.
Furthermore, the flotilla was joined by David Segarra from Telesur TV, Svetoslav Ivanov and Valentin Vassilev from Bulgaria, Muna Shester from the Kuwait News Agency, Talat Hussain from Pakistan, Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty as representatives of the Australian Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Abbas Nasser and Isaam Zaatar from Aljazeera and Mario Damolin from the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung among others.
10 people killed in storm on aid ships
The "Mavi Marmara" vessel set out from Istanbul on 22 May as part of a campaign organized by the Humanitarian Help Foundation (İHH). The ship joined the flotilla off the coast of Cyprus and headed for Gaza on 27 May.
The Israeli Army stopped the aid ships 120 km off the coast of Gaza and stormed the vessels. Ten people were killed in the attack and more than 30 activists got injured. (BB/TK/EÖ/VK)
