Turkey expels Israel's top diplomat in Ankara

Turkey on Monday informed Israel''s top diplomat in Ankara that nearly all senior Israeli embassy personnel must leave the country by Wednesday. Ella Ofek, the deputy to the Israeli ambassador to Turkey and the person currently in charge of the Israeli embassy in Ankara, was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday. Ofek was informed that all Israeli diplomats ranked above the level of second secretary, including the military attach?, must depart Turkey by Wednesday, reported Haaretz newspaper. The only Israeli diplomats permitted to remain include embassy spokesman Nizar Amir and personnel who provide consular services. The recent crisis in Israel-Turkey relations deepened after the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid was leaked to the New York Times, foiling a last-ditch effort to patch up relations between the two sides . Turkey then announced a series of measures against Israel, beginning with the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the downgrading of bilateral relations to the level of second secretary.