TURKEY tr-diplomacy

Turkish PM calls Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla 'state terror'

ANKARA/BRUSSELS — Agence France-Presse | 5/31/2010 12:00:00 AM |

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday accused Israel of committing 'inhuman state terror' with its deadly raid on a fleet of aid ships bound for Gaza.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday accused Israel of committing "inhuman state terror" with its deadly raid on a fleet of aid ships bound for Gaza.

"It should be known that we will not stay silent and unresponsive in the face of this inhuman state terror," Erdoğan said in live televised remarks ahead of his departure from Chile to Turkey, cutting short a Latin American tour.

"International law has been trampled underfoot," he added.

Erdoğan also called for a meeting of NATO ambassadors, who will hold emergency talks Tuesday, spokesman James Appathurai said.

[HH] Başbuğ: Raid 'grave,' 'unacceptable'

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Başbuğ told his Israeli counterpart in a telephone conversation Monday that the deadly raid on the Gaza-bound aid fleet was "grave and unacceptable," the Turkish military said in a statement.