December 17, 2012

(JTA) — Five Turkish citizens helped Israel during the 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara ship that attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization in a filing to the Istanbul court prosecuting Israeli military leaders in absentia said the Turkish citizens were either among the troops that raided the ship or interrogated activists following the May 2010 raid in which nine Turkish citizens were killed, The Turkish Daily Zaman reported.

The Turkish citizens allegedly are part of the Shayetet 13, the elite Israeli naval commando force that raided the Mavi Marmara. They reportedly have been identified and their names sent to the Turkish prosecutors’ office.

The investigation looked at all Turkish citizens who traveled between Israel and Turkey in the month surrounding the Mavi Marmara incident, according to Zaman. The investigation centered on Istanbul and Izmir, which have larger Jewish populations.

Turkey’s Jewish community could suffer a backlash as a result of the investigation.

The criminal court case against former Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and other Israeli military leaders opened last month in Istanbul. The charges reportedly include manslaughter and attempted manslaughter, causing bodily harm, deprivation of freedom, plundering, damage to property and illegal confiscation of property.

Nine Turkish citizens died when Israeli Navy commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, which claimed to be carrying humanitarian aid, on May 31, 2010 after warning the ship not to sail into waters near the Gaza Strip in circumvention of Israel’s naval blockade of the coastal strip.

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