Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on Monday of having targeted civilian ships off Tunisia, at the extraordinary Arab and Islamic summit of Doha. He denounced an “unprecedented arrogance” and an escalation which now extends the conflict to areas hitherto spared, after two ships of the international flotilla for Gaza were affected in Sidi Bou Saïd.
In his speech, Erdogan said that the Israeli aggression “constitutes a direct threat to the region and must stop immediately.” According to him, Israel has crossed a CAP by expanding its offensive: after Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Syria, it is now “civilian ships off Tunisia and even Qatar” that have been affected.
The Turkish Head of State described this enlargement as “unprecedented level of arrogance”.
Erdogan is the first head of state to officially designate Israel as an instigator of the strikes which targeted the two ships belonging to the international flotilla for Gaza at the port of Sidi Bou Said.
Recall that the Family Boat, the Portuguese pavilion and the main ship of the Spanish branch of the “Global Sumud Flatilla”, was targeted by a drone on September 8, causing a partial fire without making any victims. The Alma, British pavilion, underwent a similar incident the next day.
The organizers accused Israel of intimidating the participants, while the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said that the attack has constituted a “premeditated act”. According to the official press release, the Tunisian authorities conduct all the surveys necessary to identify the managers, whether planners, accomplices or performers, and make public conclusions “in Tunisia as in the whole world”.
