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Protesters try to storm Israel consulate in Turkey after Gaza flotilla deaths

Published 31.05.10

CNN-Turk and NTV televisions protesters scuffling with Turkish police guarding consulate building in central Istanbul.

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

Turkish police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul over reports of an Israeli attack on at least one aid ship in international waters on Monday, news channels reported.

CNN-Turk and NTV showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police guarding the consulate in downtown Istanbul.

"Damn Israel," the protesters shouted.

Two TV networks reported earlier that Israeli warships attacked the six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for blockaded Gaza, killing at least 10 and wounding an unknown number of people on board.

"We were not expecting such an operation in international waters," Omer Faruk Korkmaz, an official of the pro-Islamic aid group, IHH, that led the aid shipment said in Turkey. "Israel has been caught redhanded and the international community will not forgive it."

Korkmaz said the ship was being escorted to Haifa.

Turkey's foreign ministry condemned Israel's actions and said that the Israel Navy violated international law.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/protesters-try-to-storm-israel-consulate-in-turkey-after-gaza-flotilla-deaths-1.293172