Israeli ambassador leaves Turkey

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Eitan Naeh, the Israeli ambassador to Ankara, left Turkey on May 16 at the country’s request following the killing of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border.

Accompanied by a personal security guard and some consulate officers, Naeh left for Tel Aviv from Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport at 11:30 a.m. [08:30 GMT] on a Turkish Airlines charter plane.

On May 15, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Naeh to tell him it would be “appropriate” for him to return to his country “for a while.”

At least 62 Palestinians were killed and thousands more injured by Israeli forces during protests along the Gaza border on May 14.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered on the Gaza Strip’s eastern border to take part in protests aimed at commemorating the “Nakba”—the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment—and to protest the relocation of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the border rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed by cross border Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing border protests constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.