Turkey expels Israel envoy

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would reduce its diplomatic representation in Israel to the level of second secretary one of the lowest diplomatic ranks and had ordered Israels ambassador,Gabby Levy,to leave Turkey by Wednesday. Reuters said Levy was currently in Israel and had cancelled plans to return to Turkey.

All military agreements have been suspended, Davutoglu said but added relations could return to normal if Israel apologised. Our aim here is not to hurt our friendship but to return this friendship to its right track, Davutoglu said.

Israeli officials said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding consultations but they refused to respond publicly to the announcement from Turkey.

The move came as a long-awaited UN review of the 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla found that Israels naval blockade of Gaza is legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable.

The report also found that when Israeli commandos boarded the main ship,they faced organised and violent resistance from a group of passengers and were therefore required to use force for their protection. But the report called the force excessive and unreasonable, saying that the loss of life was unacceptable and that the Israeli militarys later treatment of passengers was abusive.

Davutoglu said Turkey did not accept the report nor recognise the legality of the blockade.