14 years after the famous Freedom Flotilla that challenged the blockade of Gaza and culminated in a violent Israeli assault in which ten activists were killed, Turkey is preparing another flotilla to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave in which activists from a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States, will participate.
The new flotilla, now called the ‘International Freedom Flotilla‘, will consist of at least three ships: Anadolu (Anatolia), Akdeniz (Mediterranean) and Vizdan (Conscience), and is scheduled to leave Turkey for Gaza on 15 April, according to Bülent Yıldırım, chairman of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), the Turkish NGO that organised the first flotilla.
“We have finished buying three ships for the flotilla for now. Since these ships will go directly to Gaza, it has been very difficult to get them,” explained Yıldırım, who was also heading the İHH in 2010 when the original Freedom Flotilla, led by the Mavi Marmara ship and consisting of five other ships, was intercepted by commandos of Israel in international waters. The violent attack resulted in the death of 9 pro-Palestinian activists, while a tenth victim died 4 years later after spending several years in a coma.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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