A Few Loose Ends 06/01/2010
The Mavi Marmara, with an Israeli warship in the distance. Quite a ship for $1.5 mil.
The ship that will go down in history from the Gaza flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, looked a bit familiar to Evan and me...
Turns out, the Mavi Marmara, until last year, ferried passengers from Istanbul's Sarayburnu (Topkapi Palace area) to Marmara and Avşa Adası - islands in the Sea of Marmara (the Sea of Marmara, via the Turkish Straits, connects the Mediterranean and Black Seas).
The ship was owned and operated by IDO-- Istanbul's municipal "sea boat" company until it was recently sold to IHH Insan Yardım Vakfi (İnsan Halkarı Hürriyet - İnsan Yardım Vakfi/Human Rights Freedom - Human Aid Association). The price was a reported bargain-buster $1.5 million - not much for a ship designed to carry up to 1080 people.
Although some Turkish NGOs are able to amass lots of money from Islamic networks on their own - Deniz Feneri, for instance-- the low price for the ship, the scale and obviously provocative nature of its mission, leads some to wonder if the move wasn't backed by the Turkish government. Turkey controversially hosted Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Ankara in 2006, and Erdogan has long wished to end Turkey's close relationship with Israel and reestablish close relations with the Islamic world. Ending the blockade would be a huge coup for Turkey's standing in the region.
I wish I had more information about IHH, but reliable reports are hard to find, and the NGO's website is curiously password-protected.
Update: IHH's website is now open but provides few details about the group's previous work and motivations.
Turns out, the Mavi Marmara, until last year, ferried passengers from Istanbul's Sarayburnu (Topkapi Palace area) to Marmara and Avşa Adası - islands in the Sea of Marmara (the Sea of Marmara, via the Turkish Straits, connects the Mediterranean and Black Seas).
The ship was owned and operated by IDO-- Istanbul's municipal "sea boat" company until it was recently sold to IHH Insan Yardım Vakfi (İnsan Halkarı Hürriyet - İnsan Yardım Vakfi/Human Rights Freedom - Human Aid Association). The price was a reported bargain-buster $1.5 million - not much for a ship designed to carry up to 1080 people.
Although some Turkish NGOs are able to amass lots of money from Islamic networks on their own - Deniz Feneri, for instance-- the low price for the ship, the scale and obviously provocative nature of its mission, leads some to wonder if the move wasn't backed by the Turkish government. Turkey controversially hosted Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Ankara in 2006, and Erdogan has long wished to end Turkey's close relationship with Israel and reestablish close relations with the Islamic world. Ending the blockade would be a huge coup for Turkey's standing in the region.
I wish I had more information about IHH, but reliable reports are hard to find, and the NGO's website is curiously password-protected.
Update: IHH's website is now open but provides few details about the group's previous work and motivations.
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