Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan interrupted his visit to South America after Israeli soldiers raided aid ships with humanitarian help on their way to Gaza in the early hours of 31 May. PM Erdoğan called the attack "state terror".
He held a press conference in Santiago, the capital of Chile, the same day. Read here a summary of the Prime Minister's main points:
No weapons on the vessels: Erdoğan emphasized that there were no weapons on board of the aid ships, as stated by Israeli officials. "I clearly say that this was a lie". [...] "There was nobody else on the ships but the civilian voluntary helpers. The ships were going under the white flag when they were attacked. The vessels were heading for Gaza to get help into the region. For a long time, people in Gaza live under inhumane conditions. Children, women, civilians, innocent people cannot fulfil their basic needs. The ships are carrying medicine, bandages, pain killers, bread, rice, pasta, toys, housing materials and similar items and nothing else".
Call for NATO meeting: "We immediately withdrew our ambassador to Israel. I called for an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations Security Council as a temporary member of the Council. Furthermore, we will call for a NATO meeting to discuss this incident that happened in international waters. The NATO Council is being informed right now".
State terrorism: "Regardless of Israel's motives for this attack, this is state terrorism that entirely opposes international law. The attack has once more demonstrated clearly that the Israeli Government does not want peace in the region. This sort of demeanour endangers the peace in the region. At the same time, it this is an attitude that will not bring peace and stability to Israel's citizens and the Israeli people either. They should know that we are not going to remain silent and impassive in the face of this inhumane state terrorism".
Urgent demands: "We want the ships and the volunteers to be released immediately. We want concrete and detailed information on the casualties and the injured civilians as soon as possible. I want the bodies of the dead volunteers to be handed over immediately and I want immediate measures to be taken for the injured people".
Jewish community will be protected: "I want to tell all Turkish citizens and particularly the Jewish community in Turkey that the Jewish people living here are our citizens as well. We have not and we will not apply that kind of approach as demonstrated by Israel to any of our citizens regardless of their religion and their ethnic roots. They are under our protection. I expect my people to be much more sensitive right now. I want our people to know that we, as the state, are going to follow up this incident to the full extent considering our nation's sensitiveness. I believe that our nation will show dignity and dignified democratic reactions. It is their right to do so and respect that".
