Report: Erdogan considering visiting Gaza to 'break blockade'

Report: Erdogan considering visiting Gaza to 'break blockade'

Turkish PM may visit Gaza, ask Turkish Navy to accompany another aid flotilla, according to Lebanese newspaper; Turkish military opposes cutting security ties with Israel.

By Haaretz Service

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is weighing the possibility of traveling to the Gaza Strip in order to "break the Israeli blockade," the Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported on Saturday, according to Army Radio.

Erdogan reportedly raised the idea in conversations with close associates and even informed the United States of his intention to ask the Turkish Navy to accompany another aid flotilla to Gaza. The Americans asked Erdogan to delay his plans, in light of tensions on the region, the Lebanese report said.

According to the report, Erdogan is under intense political pressure to cancel security agreements with Israel. The Turkish military establishment, however, strongly opposes the idea of cutting security ties with Israel.

Erdogan has fiercely criticized Israeli for Monday's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, in which nine people, all Turkish citizens, were killed.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-erdogan-considering-visiting-gaza-to-break-blockade-1.294326