Turkish Premier Says Turkey To Defend Rights Of Dead Civilians

ISTANBUL - The Turkish prime minister said on Tuesday that Turkey would defend the rights of civilians who lost their lives in Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Turkey's Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would defend rights of the dead civilians of the flotilla in all international platforms.

"Our agonies will alleviate when justice prevails," Erdogan told a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul.

Erdogan and Putin met over breakfast at the Ciragan Palace on the sidelines of the The Third Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

Premier Erdogan's remarks came after the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31, killing eight Turkish and one U.S. citizen of Turkish descent and wounding almost 30 people.