Washington, Jun 02: US President Barack Obama has spoken to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a crisis built after an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which Turkey branded a “bloody massacre.”
Obama spoke with the Turkish leader yesterday afternoon Washington time, an official said on condition of anonymity.
Further details of the conversation were expected later.
Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had previewed the call, saying, “obviously they’re an important friend in all this and a relationship that we value greatly.”
The showdown provoked a crisis in Israel’s relations with Turkey — once its closest Muslim ally — as diplomatic sources in Ankara confirmed at least four of the nine dead in the assault were Turkish.
–PTI