Thousands of angry protesters in Turkey have staged a demonstration in the city of Istanbul to condemn the Egyptian police crackdown on a Gaza-bound aid convoy.
At least 55 people were injured in clashes that broke out between riot police and Viva Palestina activists at the Egyptian port of El-Arish on Tuesday, after Egypt said it would not allow 59 trucks for the relief convoy to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Following the incident, Turkish protesters poured into streets and assembled in front of the Egyptian consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday.
They carried flags of Palestine and chanted slogans in condemnation of Cairo’s use of force against the human rights activists and Israel’s ongoing siege of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Led by British politician George Galloway, Viva Palestina has over 200 vehicles laden with basic food items and medical supplies, and is set to break Israel’s months-long closure of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, Cairo had said it would only permit 157 members of the convoy to drive to Gaza, but later agreed to allow the group’s 400 volunteers to enter the impoverished Palestinian territory.
The Egyptian government’s denial of entry for Viva Palestina trucks came despite talks in which a delegation of Turkish lawmakers sought to convince Cairo officials to open its border to Gaza for the aid convoy.
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