(USASABAH and AFP)
Back in Istanbul, months after its ill-fated voyage to bring aid to the Gaza Strip, the Mavi Marmara ferry opened to visitors, displaying traces of the deadly Israeli raid and rekindling emotions.
"Cevdet was killed here, right here. (The Israelis) were shooting from the upper deck there, from above," said a trembling Suleyman Ozcan as he recounted the final moments of the dead man, shown in a portrait placed nearby.
Cevdet Kiliclar, web editor of the Turkish charity IHH that led the aid flotilla to Gaza, was one of nine Turks that Israeli forces killed as they raided the Mavi Marmara on May 31 last year. Working as the ferry's electrician, Ozcan was in the engine room when the commandos landed, escaping the violence that injured some 50 others.
He now guides visitors through the ferry, pointing out presumed traces of bullets and blood stains, as well as the bloodied clothes of the nine victims, referred to as "martyrs" -- an honorific for Muslims who die for an Islamic cause while defending their country.
"Our objective is to show how the Israeli soldiers killed unarmed civilians who were going to Gaza to take food to the children," said Semsettin Ipek, a senior member of the IHH, which owns the ferry.
Following repairs in southern Turkey, the Mavi Marmara returned to Istanbul on December 26, greeted by a crowd waving Palestinian flags and chanting Islamic slogans. The ferry has since received about 100,000 visitors, according to IHH.
"Those people were killed because they were not spectators to the oppression the Muslim world suffers... It is a wake-up call," said Suheda, a psychology student. "I hope there will be a follow-up (campaign)... I want to take part," she added.
Huseyin Erkan was touched by the display of goods the activists intended to take to Gaza's children.
"What moved me most here were the notebooks, small toys, pencils and rubbers that were to be given to the children... They had no guns, no knives," the retired civil servant said. "I think Israel's behaviour harmed itself as much as it did to us."
The assault on the vessel, whose activists came from about 30 countries, provoked a near-unanimous international condemnation and plunged already strained Turkish-Israeli relations into deep crisis.
The Jewish state however decorated its soldiers for bravery, arguing they used arms only after the ferry's passengers attacked the troops landing on board.
A furious Turkey recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv, insisting that ties with its one-time ally would not be repaired unless Israel apologised and offered compensation for the victims' families.
The IHH said it plans another campaign, again on May 31, to take aid to Gaza with an international flotilla of 50 vessels. Addressing the "Martyrs" in the Mavi Marmara visitors' book, a teacher wrote:
"Rest in peace, there are others here to take over."
