Turkey has "no confidence" that a commission of inquiry set up by Israel to probe the Israel Defense Forces raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla will conduct an impartial investigation, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday.
The government plans to approve the members elected to the Turkel committee Monday morning.
On Sunday the Prime Minister's Office announced that the committee, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, includes two Israeli members aside from the former judge: Amos Horev, who served as president of the Technion, and Shabtai Rosen, a professor of international law.
In addition, two international observers have been appointed members: William David Trimble, the first minister of Northern Ireland, and Ken Watkin, former judge advocate general of the Canadian military.
The two will participate in debates and act as advisors, but will not receive a vote in the final conclusions. The US was supportive of the arrangement, arrived at after many hours of debate between Jerusalem and Washington.
Meanwhile the Turkish Zaman reported Monday that the army had canceled a deal with Israel on the
purchase of Heron unmanned aircraft, produced by the Israel Aerospace Industries. The paper said Turkey had decided to produce intelligence-gathering equipment itself.
The report added that Turkey had agreed to purchase 10 drones in 2004 for a sum of $180 million, but canceled the deal because the Israeli company did not adhere to the delivery schedule and because the products were not up to standards.
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