Manama: Israel's ambassador to Turkey was excluded from an iftar hosted by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and attended by all the diplomats in the country.
Gabi Levi was not invited to the iftar feast, hosted by the ruling party in reaction to Israel's raid on the Gaza flotilla in May, Turkish and Israeli media have reported.
Omer Çelik, AK Party Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the reason for not inviting the Israeli ambassador was not personal, but rather a symbolic act against Israel's policies.
"Anyone who is unjust or inequitable cannot pass the threshold of the Justice and Development party's headquarters," he reportedly said.
Israel's foreign ministry responded by stating: "Once again it appears that Erdogan is initiating an escalation and searching for it," Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Ankara, last week, said it has set up its own inquiry into Israel's raid on the Turkish-flagged ship that left nine Turkish citizens dead. The probe will work under the office of Erdogan and will "investigate the attack and the treatment the activists faced" before reporting on its findings, Ankara said in a statement.
