Press Release
Veysel Basar, member of IHH Board, held a press conference on 31st of May, 2010 in Istanbul headquarters of IHH (The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief). You can find the full text of the press meeting below:
Dear Press Members,
14 hours passed after the “state terror” carried out by Israel without any respect for the international laws. However, we still have not received any news from our friends and our ships. Because of this, the dreaded waiting still continues. Unfortunately, we still do not know about the number of martyrs and the conditions under which the injured is being kept. Israel is now carrying out “terror of information” following the act of “armed terror” they carried out this morning by brutally attacking our friends. However, we would like everyone to know that we will never give up on our struggle, we will claim back the bodies of our martyrs, the injured and the humanitarian aid cargo on those ships. We would like to ensure everyone that we will do everything to fulfill our responsibilities of delivering the aid and be true to our people’s trust.
Unfortunately, Israel’s terror of information does not only apply to delivery of information to us regarding our martyrs and the injured. Israel is doing everything they can in order to justify their terrorizing acts and now since this morning they have been throwing another lie saying that its soldiers were attacked with weapons.
Once again, I would like to emphasize that our ships embarked on their journey after being thoroughly checked by Ireland, Turkey and Greece customs authorities and all the embarkation procedures were completed with precise care and all necessary documents were filed. Therefore, the fact that our ships were carrying humanitarian aid only has been confirmed by the international law. However, we are concerned about a possible complot after Israel invaded our ships; they may have placed weapons onboard, or plan to do so from now on. All kinds of dirty tricks and moral weakness may be expected from a terrorist state that murdered those innocent people whose only aim was delivering humanitarian aid to those who are in need.
According to the Israeli sources, 39 journalists from Turkey will be deported and sent back to Turkey. We will hold a welcome-back ceremony for those friends of ours and make a press statement together in front of the Israeli Consulate in Levent, Istanbul.
We will be serving our turn of duty in Levent until all our friends are released and the bodies of our martyrs are delivered to us.
As our Prime Minister stated, Israel has committed an act of inhumane state terrorism. The attack on our ships have once again shown that Israel does not want peace in the region. Besides, it does everything to still justify and continue its bloodthirsty actions. We are much more determined to free Palestine than Israel is determined to shed blood.
We will continue to provide you with accurate information.
Kind Regards
Allah’ım! Ümmetin suskunluğunu sana şikayet ediyorum!”