Attorney Cihat Gökdemir said it is wrong to demote the struggle carried out by Mavi Marmara participants to the compensation issue. 

 

“Compensation cases aim for the punishment of Israel legally and expose its illegal actions. It would be merciless to think that the goal of the compensation cases is victims’ families desire to get money. The real goal of the Mavi Marmara victims’ is not to receive compensation but to ensure conviction of Israel in court. The compensation cases will also pave the way for other compensations cases for all the crimes Israel committed in Palestine.”

 

With regards to Israel’s demand for the dropping of the ongoing trial atİstanbul 7th High Criminal Court against it in return for its offering an apology to Turkey and paying compensation to the families of the victims, Gökdemir said: “Since this criminal case is a public trial, it cannot be concluded without the court’s reaching a verdict. The claim that this case will be dropped if a deal is signed between Israel and Turkey is completely unlawful.”

 

Noting that even if a deal is made between Turkey and Israel about compensation issue, Gökdemir said cases against Israel should continue. 

“If a deal is going to be made with Israel for the victims, this deal should not aim to eliminate cases against Israel but it should mean Israel’s acceptance of the cases and its illegitimate actions,” he said. 

Noting that all the passengers of Mavi Marmara were victimized to a certain extent by Israel’s attack, Gökdemir said the crew members of the ship were also harmed by the attack. 

 

“Since the crew members of the ship were deported by Israel, they cannot find jobs in any of the international marine companies. So, the punishment to be given to Israel should be punitive, deterrent and an amount that will eliminate the losses of all those victimized,” the attorney said. 

 

“Case filed at ICC an important development”

 

Noting that a case petition filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday is being examined by the court, according to the court’s website, attorney Ramazan Arıtürk said: “The application we made at the ICC on behalf of the Union of the Comoros has begun to be examined. This is a very important development with regards to international law. We hope that the trial process will begin soon.” 

Arıtürk also noted that Israel’s attack on Mavi Marmara was not an act of negligence but a deliberate action and this should be definitely taken into consideration during compensation talks. 

 

Stressing that there are international agreements which describe people who are psychologically traumatized in such incidents as “injured,” Arıtürk said: “Compensations should be paid not only to the families of the victims but also to the injured and all the passengers of the ship who underwent a psychological trauma.” 

 

Furkan’s father went to US with Turkish prime minister 

 

Gökdemir also noted that father of Furkan Doğan, one of the Mavi Marmara victims, Ahmet Doğan went to the United States upon an invitation from Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdoğan. 

 

Doğan will submit a letter to US President Barack Obama. His letter includes complaints about killing of his son, who was a US citizen, by Israel and the slow running of the judicial process in the United States regarding the killing of his son.