A fifteen-ship flotilla with about 1,500 human rights activists from 120 countries will set sail at the end of June for the second time to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, a Turkish foundation chairman said here on Thursday, Xinhua reported.
Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), said that the flotilla include the ship Mavi Marmara, which was subject to Israeli forces ' raid on May 31, 2010.
The ship will set sail at the end of June as part of a 15-ship flotilla carrying humanitarian aid including medicine, medical equipment, cement and iron. The aid campaign was launched by 22 relief agencies from different countries, according to the chairman.
"The second flotilla will carry nearly 1,500 human rights activists from 120 countries. There are also Jewish people among them. More than 500 thousand Turkish people applied us to join the aid campaign. There will be not a single weapon even a pocketknife on the ships," he said.
"Mavi Marmara ship set sail from Istanbul for Gaza on May 22, 2010 to open an aid corridor. However, Israeli forces attacked the ship in the international waters. Nine people lost their lives in the attack," he added.
Unfortunately, he said, "we could not come to a judicial conclusion yet because of the double standards by the International Court of Justice. Now, we decided to send a second flotilla."