EXCERPT:
A Turkish government inquiry into Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American says Israeli soldiers shot five victims at close range.
Turkey released details of its formal inquiry into the May 31 incident Friday, hours after submitting the report to a United Nations panel investigating the incident. Eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish-American were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara.
Israel has insisted its soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked by activists on board. An Israeli inquiry into the raid last month cleared the military and government of any wrongdoing and said that the armed defense of Israel’s maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled coastal strip was justified under international law.
The Turkish inquiry report – a summary of which was released to journalists Friday – concluded that Israeli soldiers used excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate force on unarmed civilians. It said the raid was a blatant violation of international laws.
“The force used was not justified, it was excessive,” committee member Mithat Rende, a Foreign Ministry official, told reporters.
The report said Israeli soldiers fired live bullets from helicopters, killing two of the activists, even before they had rappelled on board. Five of the victims were killed from close range, it added.
Furkan Dogan, the 19-year-old Turkish-American, was lying wounded after being shot in the leg when he was kicked by two soldiers, who then shot him from close range execution-style, according to the summary.
Another activist, Cevdet Kiliclar, was killed with laser-guided weapons while taking photographs, the report said.
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