At Turkey’s request, an emergency meeting of the Atlantic Council was held on 1 June 2010 to closely examine the Israeli operation against the "Freedom Flotilla".

At the end of the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen solemnly decleared: "I ... request the immediate release of the detained civilians and ships held by Israel".

Turkey is a founding member of NATO. Israel is not officially a candidate for membership, but regularly takes part in the military manoeuvres of the Alliance.