Türkiye is commemorating the victims of a deadly Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara aid vessel headed for Gaza 14 years after it was intercepted, as Israel continues pounding on the Palestinian enclave today.
The Turkish charity group Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) dispatched the Mavi Marmara on May 22, 2010, along with five other civilian ships as part of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla," organized by several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in an attempt to breach the Israeli blockade on Gaza and raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
The vessel was laden with basic necessities supplied by donations raised for the "Palestine is our route, freedom is our burden" campaign. The flotilla, including two Greek, one U.S., one Irish and one Cambodian-flagged ship, was carrying in total 6,000 tons of humanitarian aid, as well as 750 activists from 36 countries, lawmakers, press members, artists and Nobel-winning activists.
On the evening of May 30, when Mavi Marmara was 75 miles off the shores of Gaza in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, it began receiving threatening messages from the Israeli military, which ultimately cut off the ship’s satellite connection that was broadcasting worldwide from onboard.
The next morning, Israeli soldiers stormed the Mavi Marmara, shooting dead several civilians onboard at close range and injuring 56 others with long-range shots from helicopters and boats surrounding the vessel. Ultimately, nine pro-Palestinian activists on board, all Turkish, were killed during the raid and a 10th died in 2014 after years in a coma.
Israeli military seized the entire flotilla and handcuffed all on board while preventing passengers from trying to help the injured until helicopters took the patients away hours later.
Today, Türkiye keeps the memory of the victims alive with dozens of monuments across the country.
The raid, in addition to drawing international outrage, touched off a diplomatic crisis between Türkiye and Israel, whose relations have historically been rocky due to disputes over the Palestinian cause.
The pair was in the process of normalizing their relations when the new round of conflict broke out with Hamas’ cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Ankara has since shelved normalization plans and vowed to pursue the rights of Palestinians.
In cooperation with activists from 11 other countries, the IHH is currently working to launch a new flotilla for Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 36,000 since Oct. 7 in Israeli strikes.
The International Freedom Flotilla, expected to carry over 5,500 tons of aid, food and equipment to Gaza, was supposed to set sail from Istanbul on April 18, but dates kept changing due to what organizers have described as "pressures from the Zionist lobby" on some port authorities.
Plans for the flotilla, consisting of three ships, were disrupted after Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag from ships that would deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The flotilla includes activists, media professionals and prominent figures like Dr. Aleida Guevara, the daughter of Cuban leader Che Guevara and Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela.
"We appeal to the global community to exert pressure on their countries who are in solidarity with Palestinians to ensure they can find a solution to enable us to utilize their flag to sail,'' Mandla Mandela said recently.