Peres says Gul’s demand for apology on flotilla raid as condition of meeting unacceptable

Peres resists Gul’s call for an apology on raid

UNITED NATIONS — Israeli President Shimon Peres says plans to meet with his Turkish counterpart have been scrapped because Peres won’t apologize for the deadly commando raid on a Turkish-led flotilla that tried to breach Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Relations between the two countries hit a low point after the May raid in which nine people, including eight Turks and a Turkish-American, were killed.

Peres told reporters Monday that he agreed to join Turkish President Abdullah Gul at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, then accepted Gul’s invitation to meet on the sidelines.

But Peres said Gul then demanded Israel publicly apologize for the May raid, and he refused.

Turkey’s president blamed the canceled meeting on a scheduling problem.