Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Palestine's city of Gaza in September 13 or 14 to put an end to an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, country's Haberturk newspaper said on Sunday, quoting sources in the government.
The sources told the paper that the prime minister would get to Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah Border Crossing as new Egyptian authorities gave their approval for that.
Israel attacked a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla in international waters off the Gaza coast in May 2010, which resulted in the deaths of eight Turkish nationals on board the Mavi Marmara ship. Israel initiated a naval blockade of Gaza, aimed at preventing arms smuggling to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave.
Turkey and the Palestinian Authority rejected a UN report about the attack announced this week. Turkey decided to expel the Israeli ambassador by September 7 and cancel military contracts with its one-time regional ally as Tel Aviv has refused to apologize for killing the eight Turks during the raid.
Israel says its soldiers acted in self defense after being attacked by activists on board the Mavi Marmara ship, while Turkey insists that the Israelis attacked first.
