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Captain recounts attack on Flotilla

A Turkish captain, among a Gaza-bound international relief convoy which was violently attacked by Israel, details the assault which killed 20 civilians.

Captain Huseyin Tokalak said the Israeli Navy had threatened to sink his ship, Gazze, before Israeli commandos took over the vessel at gun point, the Reuters news agency reported.

“They pointed two guns to the head of each of us,” Tokalak told a news conference on Tuesday. “They were really interesting guns, like the ones you see in the movies.”

The six-ship relief convoy, titled the Freedom Flotilla was carrying some 10,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment and school supplies.

Israeli forces attacked the Turkish-backed fleet in international waters 150km (90 miles) from Gaza on Monday, killing at least 20 people.

Tokalak said he and the other captains had assured the Israeli Navy that they were in international waters and carried nothing illegal.

“They started shooting directly at Mavi Marmara … They didn’t care if it was the front or back of the ship,” he also said referring to the lead ship of the convoy.

“I thought they would sink the ship.”

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