Oktay Mehmet, from Yenisafak daily newspaper, held an interview with Bulent Yildirim, President of IHH. You can find the details to the interview below:
IHH (The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief) has been preparing for taking humanitarian aid to Gaza by ships in order to break the Israeli embargo once again, this time by the sea. IHH broke the embargo by the land way once already by leading the previous vehicle convoy.
Bulent Yildirim, President of the Foundation, giving the most recent updates on the aid flotilla campaign to Yenisafak, said “Israel has been trying to use our West Bank representative against us by keeping him under arrest. We will never step back.” Yildirim’s answers to our questions are as follows:
ISRAEL IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE ISOLATED
Israel is trying to intertwine the two issues, Izzet Sahin’s arrest and the flotilla project. They might be thinking that they can make us step back. Everyone should know that we will not step back. Those aid ships shall embark on their journey to Palestine once the time comes. Every minute Izzet Sahin has been kept under arrest counts as Israel’s loss. Number of Israel’s supporters in the world is decreasing gradually. This leads to a weakening and isolation of Israel.
WHAT WILL BE HAPPENING ON THOSE SHIPS?
Soon, Turkish people will be sending not only their donations but also the love and sincerity of their hearts off to Palestine onboard. This is a humanitarian aid campaign. Even a small knife will not be carried on those ships. There will be women and the elderly onboard. We will also be carrying cancer medicine, hemodialysis machines and construction materials onboard.
WE EXPECT SUPPORT FROM THE JEWISH PEOPLE
We would like the Jewish people of Turkey to call out for the easy passage of the flotilla. In fact, we would be happy to have them with us onboard as well. If, one day, those brothers and sisters of us face an embargo, we would not hesitate to help them out. We now expect to see them stand next to us. This is a humanitarian matter.
PEOPLE ARE EXCITED
Our work has been influential throughout the world from the Balkans to the Far East, from Latin America to the Middle East. People are excited about this campaign. The other day, Raed Salah, the protector of Masjed Al-Aqsa, held a meeting with 10.000 people in Germany. He declared that he would like to come to Gaza onboard the aid flotilla. Salah noted that this flotilla project is going to be a turning point for the return of all the Palestinian refugees to their homeland. Salah also invited all people in the world to support the flotilla campaign. A lot of Jewish people have applied to join the flotilla. This is an indication of the weakening of the Zionist ideology in the world.
