Zafar Bangash
The father of Furkan Dogan — a Turkish-American who was shot and killed by Israeli commandos when they attacked the aid ship Mavi Marmara on 5-31-2010 — has filed a case against the Israeli government in a US court. His lawyer Ramazan Ariturk said on May 24, “We will open a compensation case against Israel and we’ll declare this at a press conference in front of the US Capitol.” The Mavi Marmara was part of an aid flotilla organized by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation, AHH, to deliver food and medicines to the besieged people of Gaza.
The Israeli attack in international waters resulted in the death of nine people aboard the Mavi Marmara, including Furkan Dogan, reminiscent of a similar incident with the USS Liberty in 1967.
“Furkan is an American citizen. He was martyred in international waters. The United States has not taken any action against Israel over the past year. The legal procedures launched by US authorities have not reached any result,” Hüseyin Oruç, an AHH board member and spokesman for a new flotilla set to sail to Gaza in June, told the Turkish media. Compensation cases for the other eight victims will be opened in Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized US President Barack Obama’s government last year for remaining silent on the death of an American citizen. “We are protecting the rights of our eight martyrs. The United States is not taking care of Furkan, its own citizen. Is it because of his Turkish origin?" Erdogan asked.
