The State Department made the assertion in a letter to Rep. Ron Klein, a
Florida Democrat. Klein, vice chairman of a subcommittee on terrorism, has
been joined by leading House members such
as House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Howard Berman and Rep. Ed
Royce to demand a rapid investigation of IHH.
"Concerns about Turkey hit a new peak with the flotilla incident, the
apparent ties between the [Turkish ruling] AK Party and the Hamas-associated
non-governmental organization IHH," Berman said in a committee hearing on
July 28.
The IHH investigation was launched in wake of the group's sponsorship of
a flotilla destined for the Gaza Strip in May 2010. The Israel Navy
intercepted the flotilla in what resulted in a clash in which nine
passengers, eight of them Turks, were killed.
The House members have urged the Treasury Department to designate IHH a
terrorist entity. In a letter to Treasury, the members said sufficient open
source information was available to
justify the designation, which would result in a U.S. ban on IHH.
The administration, however, has been moving slowly in determining any
terrorist designation for IHH. Congressional sources said IHH has been
closely linked to Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, a key ally of Obama.
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