Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan applied the brakes to the process of reconciliation with Israel when he learned Wednesday, July 6, that the UN inquiry commission into last year's Turkish-led flotilla had ruled Israel's naval blockade on Gaza legal. Eight Turks and a Turkish-American were killed in a clash with Israeli commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmora. The UN ruling meant that Israel was within its rights and the Turkish vessel's attempt to break the blockade was illegal. 

debkafile's intelligence sources report that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has secretly ordered his government officials to dump Ankara's ties with Damascus with all speed and allowed Syrian opposition leaders to meet in Antalya on May 31-June 2 on ways to topple Bashar Assad. He is also thinking twice about a Turkish role in the June flotilla for breaking the Gaza blockade for fear Assad might seize on a clash at sea as a pretext for attacking Israel in an undesirable show of Syrian-Turkish solidarity.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, after responding to US pressure for establishing an independent public probe of the May 31 flotilla incident, is also quietly falling back under the international clamor to ease the sea and land siege of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by installing international supervisory mechanisms in place of the Israeli military and navy.

debkafile's political sources note for the first time, Israel has exposed its military activities to a public probe in which international figures take part.

A secret message from Ankara to Jerusalem threatens reprisals if Israel prevents the Turkish-led "Freedom Flotilla" of nine vessels from reaching Gaza Port on May 27 for the avowed objects of breaking the naval blockade against the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian aid. The Turkish ultimatum confronts Israel's imposition of a 20-nautical mile closure on the enclave, beefed-up naval forces and warning that the convoy will be stopped.