Israeli tourism boycott of Turkey

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defied recent Israeli threat on tourism boycott of Turkey, local newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported on Friday."We don't need Israeli tourists," the Turkish prime minister was quoted as saying, adding that Israel's tourism boycott will not affect Turkey, as tourists to Turkey had already touched total of 31 million in 2011.

Israeli state officials were reportedly warning since mid March citizens not to travel to Turkey. Israeli daily Maariv, Erdogan noted that a possible tourism boycott will not have any effect on the Turkish economy. Erdogan said Israel needs to apologize for the commando raid that killed nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, pay compensation to their families and remove the blockade against Gaza in order to improve bilateral relations with Turkey.Relations between former allies Israel and Turkey soured after Israeli marines boarded a Gaza-bound Turkish vessel in May 2010, which resulted in the death of nine Turks.The ship was part of a six-fleet flotilla that aimed to break the blockade that Israel imposed on Gaza after Hamas took control of the coastal region. Israel had in advance warned the ships that they would not be allowed to break the siege and five of the ships were intercepted, but nine protesters, including eight Turkish and one U.S.-Turkish were killed aboard the Mavi Marmara.

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