Gaza flotilla blocked in Turkey after Guinea-Bissau withdraws its ship

ISTANBUL, Turkey — A “Freedom Flotilla” aimed at delivering aid to Gaza is blocked in Turkey after being denied use of two of its ships, which organizers blame on Israeli pressure.

The coalition of NGOs and other associations says it was unable to set sail after the West African country of Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flagged vessels.

“Sadly, Guinea-Bissau has allowed itself to become complicit in Israel’s deliberate starvation, illegal siege, and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition says.

“The Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), in a blatantly political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is our cargo ship, already loaded with over 5,000 tons of life-saving aid,” their statement says.

The group says the Guinea-Bissau authorities made several “extraordinary” requests for information including destinations, potential additional port calls, cargo manifest, and estimated arrival dates and times.

“Normally, national flagging authorities concern themselves only with safety and related standards on vessels bearing their flag,” it says, equating it to being asked about destinations when registering a car.

At an Istanbul press conference, about 280 volunteers — activists, lawyers and doctors — who had hoped to join the ships shout slogans including “Flag the flotilla,” “We will sail” and “Free Palestine.”

Three of the flotilla’s ships have been docked for a week at the port of Tuzla, south of Istanbul. They had planned to set sail on Friday.

Turkish authorities and state media, who are generally keen to boast about the aid they have provided to Palestinian civilians in Gaza having organized 13 humanitarian flights and nine boats, have been silent about the flotilla.

In 2010, a previous “Freedom Flotilla” set off from the southern Turkish city of Antalya, leading to a deadly episode that soured relations between Turkey and Israel after Israeli military forces intercepted one of the ships, the Mavi Marmara, leaving 10 dead and 28 wounded aboard.