Although Israel has sent the $20 million compensation for the Mavi Marmara (Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid in 2010) incident to the Turkish government, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) did not distribute the compensation to the families of the victims by the reason of ‘unjust enrichment’, it has been stated.
The compensation issue on Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid in 2010 has been thereupon brought to trial by the families. The defendant of the lawsuit, Turkey’s Ministry of Finance, requested for dismissal of the case by the reason of ‘unjust enrichment’.
The statement on the issue came from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy İbrahim Özdiş. Speaking at a press conference in the parliament, Özdiş reminded the contract landed with Israel and said that a $20 million compensation had been paid in the account of the Turkish government for the purpose of funding 10 families who lost their relatives in accordance with the contract on October 1, 2016. Yet, any payment has not been rendered to the victims’ families by the government in this process.
Saying that the ministry that does not pay the compensation to families indicated way to the court, Özdiş also noted that ‘‘the amount to be paid to each family is certain and corresponds to $2 million. The compensation has to be paid to every family…Yet, the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the government, which is an added defendant in the past lawsuits, interestingly requests for dismissal of the case as if there is no such a kind of agreement with Israel and that it would respond to an ordinary action for compensation in which the money was not remitted to those concerned.’’
The relations between Turkey and Israel had been deteriorated with the accession of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party to the power in 2002, then almost totally broke off in 2010 following Israel’s naval raid on Turkish flotilla called Mavi Marmara trying to pass Israel’s to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by breaching Israel blockade. In the raid, 10 Turkish citizens lost their lives and several Israeli soldiers got wounded.
The compensation to families of the victims was one of the three crucial demands by the Turkish government for the reconciliation deal with Israel to normalise the relations as well as an apology and the de-escalation of the blockade on Gaza strip. Yet, as the relations between Ankara and Jerusalem normalise with particularly economic, military and geostrategic agreements, the deal does not end Israel’s tight control over the territory that has greatly exacerbated the devastation to Gaza’s economy and society from three major Israeli military assaults since 2008.
