Ankara – Turkey defeated Israel 3-0 in a women’s volleyball game Sunday that was guarded by hundreds of police because of concerns that pro-Palestinian demonstrators would try to disrupt the event.
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The game in the Turkish capital of Ankara was closed to the public, and the 7,000-seat sports hall was mostly empty save for clusters of officials, police and athletes who were allowed to attend. The two teams were playing for the bronze in the European Volleyball League finals.
A small group of protesters gathered at a police barrier two blocks away to voice anger over Israel’s May 31 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed nine activists on a Turkish ship.
Qualification games between Israel and Turkey in the volleyball tournament were canceled in June amid tension over the raid.
Turkey has threatened to cut diplomatic relations unless it gets an apology or an international investigation of the flotilla incident; Israel has refused to apologize and is conducting its own inquiry.
All that, for a 3-0, in an empty stadium!?