ISTANBUL - Turkey's foreign minister on Monday called on Israel to accept an international probe into the raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine Turks. Ahmet Davutoglu said Israel should declare it agreed to the probe proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He said: "Otherwise, it means that they have something to hide." Israel's ambassador to the US has said Israel rejects the idea. "The international community is facing a serious test. Does a country have the right to intercept a ship in international waters or not?" Davutoglu said at a news conference with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They spoke on the sidelines of a summit of a 20-nation security group. Turkey, which had a solid alliance with Israel until the three-week Gaza war that ended in early 2009, said it would reduce military and trade ties and shelved discussions of energy projects, including natural gas and fresh water shipments. It threatened to break ties unless Israel apologises for the raid last week. "We are evaluating everything. It is up to Israel how our ties will continue," Davutoglu said. "Israel has to accept the consequences of its actions and be held accountable." Davutoglu added "normalisation of Turkish-Israeli relations was out of the question", unless Israel conformed to international law. He said Turkey would pursue accountability in the killing of its nine citizens until the end. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned the Israeli raid. "We feel there was no justification for this aggression, and humanitarian assistance should not have been blocked the way it was," said Qureshi. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul also expressed solidarity with Turkey. The ministers met on the opening day of a summit on security in Asia. Nine heads of state, including leaders of Iran and Syria, and Russia's prime minister are scheduled to attend the two-day Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA. Turkey said Israel, also a member, was invited but not expected to attend.
