Turkish film on flotilla raid may damage ties with Israel

ISTANBUL: A new Turkish film in which an action-man hero avenges the death of Turkish activists in Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship is likely to put new strain on already tense relations between Turkey and Israel.

"Valley of the Wolves: Palestine," one of the most expensive Turkish films ever made, has drawn accusations at home of excessive violence and abroad of anti-Israeli propaganda, but it attracted big audiences at its opening this weekend.

In the film, Polat Alemdar, a secret agent more akin to Rambo than James Bond, emerges from a series of bloody clashes to track down and kill the Israeli commander who ordered the storming of an aid ship heading for Gaza.

It starts with a depiction of the real-life incident last May when Israeli marines boarded the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla organized by a Turkish Islamic charity, and killed nine Turkish activists who tried to stop them, creating a crisis between the former allies.

In the film, an Israeli soldier asks Alemdar why he came to Israel. He says: "I didn't come to Israel, I came to Palestine."

"This is a very disturbing situation for Jews," Israel's ambassador to Ankara, Gabby Levy, said.
The Turkish government has distanced itself from the film, saying its makers are "profit-driven people". reuters

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