Turkey Expels Israeli Ambassador Over Gaza Flotilla Row

Ankara announced measures lowering level of ties with Israel in anticipation of a leaked UN report

Turkey is to expel the Israeli ambassador after details emerged of a UN report into last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

Officials in Ankara said it was also suspending all remaining military agreements with Israel.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said some of the report's findings, leaked to the New York Times, were unacceptable.

Turkey wants Israel to apologise for the raid but it has refused to do so.

Nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed when Israeli forces stormed the flotilla in May 2010.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Istanbul, says relations between Turkey and Israel have been frozen since last year's flotilla incident, but now they are being downgraded to the lowest possible level.

Israeli soldiers raid a ship as the navy intercepts a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010

A leaked copy of the United Nations report says Israeli forces did use excessive force when they intercepted the Turkish-led flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

But the leaked report concludes that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal.

Turkey announced the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador hours before the report was expected to be published.

In the copy leaked to the New York Times, the report says: "Turkey and Israel should resume full diplomatic relations, repairing their relationship in the interests of stability in the Middle East and international peace and security".