NATO fleet could end Gaza blockade: Turk minister

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Turkish minister proposed on Wednesday sending a NATO fleet to end an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip following the deaths of nine Turks in a raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Egemen Bagis, Turkey's chief negotiator with the European Union, said he did not favor an attack on Israeli vessels enforcing the blockade but that Israel should not be allowed to continue to keep aid out.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have sunk to their lowest level in decades since the Israeli commandos boarded the ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid on May 31.

"I think NATO should send a fleet to put an end to the embargo," Bagis, whose country is a member of NATO but not the EU, told reporters during a visit to Brussels.

Asked if this might involve a NATO attack on Israeli vessels enforcing the blockade, he said: "There needs to be no attack."

He said one option would be for the NATO fleet to take humanitarian aid, adding that this was his personal idea and he had not discussed it with the rest of the Turkish government.

"The fleet is just one option. Maybe (we could end the blockade) through dialogue, diplomacy," he said.

Israel says its Gaza blockade is necessary to limit weapons smuggling to Hamas Islamists, who run the enclave.

DEMANDS FOR END TO ISRAELI BLOCKADE

Bagis, visiting Brussels for talks with members of the European Parliament and the executive European Commission, made clear Turkey would welcome more international support for ensuring Israel lifts the blockade on Gaza.

He regretted an initial EU statement on the Israeli raid made by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"The first statement by Mrs Ashton when she said Israel should start an inquiry was a joke. But later on in the day when she issued a written statement, calling for an impartial, objective inquiry and criticizing Israel in very strong terms, it was appreciated," he said.

He made clear Turkey would also have welcomed stronger criticism by Washington of its Israeli alies at the United Nations Security Council.

"Although we might not see eye to eye on some issues with the Americans, their attitude at the Security Council toward condemning Israel was not what we would expect or hope for," Bagis said.

Turkey's negotiations on joining the 27-country EU are making slow progress, partly because of opposition from the governments in France and Germany.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in London he feared Europe's rebuff of Turkey's EU aspirations was pushing it "eastward." But Bagis said no connection should be made between Turkey's relations with Israel and with the EU.

"Last time I checked, there was no pre-requisite for negotiating countries to become members (of the EU) based on their relations with Israel. I think that's mixing apples and oranges," he said.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)