Turkey has closed its airspace to some Israeli military flights after Israeli commandos killed eight Turks on an aid ship in international waters during a deadly May 31 raid.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, speaking to reporters in Toronto on Sunday, stated that Turkey had imposed a ban on Israeli flights after the May 31 raid. Erdoðan didn't elaborate, but Turkish authorities based in Ankara clarified that commercial flights were not affected, as the current ban is for Israeli military flights.
“According to the internationally agreed military aviation procedures which are already in place, permission for another country's military to use Turkish airspace is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Currently, in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara incident, the tendency is to not give permission to Israeli military flights as was done in the past,” government authorities, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Today's Zaman, indicating that the ban was a “de facto” one.
