Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in the streets of Istanbul on Thursday to mark the eighth anniversary of the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla raid and to protest against Israel.
Ten Turkish activists were killed when Israeli naval commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish boat that was trying to breach the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2010.
In June 2017, Turkish media reported that Israel had paid compensation amounting to $20 million to the families of the 10 Turkish nationals killed during the raid.
Relations between Israel and Turkey, once close regional allies, had already begun to crumble the previous, during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, but collapsed completely after the raid. In June 2016, the two countries said they would normalize relations, a rapprochement driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual fears over security risks in the Middle East.
Recently, Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel's response to the Gaza protests and of the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel a "terrorist state."
