The organization that sponsored the Mavi Marmara blockade-busting ship to Gaza has ties to the Turkish government and worked closely with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, The New York Times reports.
The organization, Humanitarian Relief Foundation (often called I.H.H.), helped Erdogan shore up support with Muslims ahead of elections next year, the Times reports. The group also has helped improve Turkey's standing in the Arab world.
As many as 10 members of Erdogan's party intended to board the Mavi Marmara, but were warned off at the last minute by a foreign ministry concerned their presence might escalate tensions.
According to the Times, the government “could have stopped the ship if it wanted to, but the mission to Gaza served both the I.H.H. and the government by making both heroes at home and in the Arab world,” said Ercan Citlioglu of Bahcesehir University in Istanbul
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