Israel deports Turkish journalist for ‘being aboard Gaza aid flotilla’ in 2010

ISTANBUL

Kemal Gümüş, a journalist for the Turkish daily Star, said on Nov. 23 that he was deported from Israel on grounds that he was among the passengers of the Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza in 2010 which was raided by Israeli forces.

“I am being deported from Tel Aviv where I came to go to Jerusalem on grounds that I was a Mavi Marmara passenger,” Gümüş said in a tweet.

“The tyrant captivity in Israel is finally ending. I am now returning to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight after I was kept for six hours. Moreover, I witnessed that the Mavi Marmara, which led to my deportation tonight, opened a deep wound in the heart of Zionism that will never heal,” he added.

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel were suspended in 2010 after Israeli forces raided a convoy of aid ships, headed by the Mavi Marmara, attempted to break the blockade on Gaza. Ten activists aboard were killed in the attack.

Ankara and Tel Aviv signed a deal to normalize ties on June 28, 2016 after six years of strained relations.