A/HRC/15/21 Secretary-General, without indicating what specific area of inquiry the Panel was to undertake, expressed the hope that the panel “will fulfil its mandate based on the Presidential Statement of the Security Council”. 9. The Panel of Inquiry was given the mandate to receive and review the reports of the national investigations with a view to recommending ways of avoiding similar incidents in the future.2 10. Both Israel and Turkey announced the setting-up of national inquiries, on 15 July and 10 August 2010 respectively. 11. In the opinion of the Mission, the remit of the Panel appointed by the SecretaryGeneral is quite different and distinct from that of the Mission as its ultimate goal is to “positively affect the relationship between Turkey and Israel, as well as the overall situation in the Middle East” .3 12. At the time of writing this report, the Mission was made aware of sittings of the Israeli inquiry under Judge Turkel.4 Both from the Internet and other sources, the Mission was able to secure transcripts of some of the evidence given by witnesses to that enquiry. It appears that evidence was given partly in closed sessions, the transcripts of which have not been made available to the Mission. As far as the Mission is aware, the inquiry announced by the Government of Turkey submitted a preliminary report to the Secretary-General’s Panel on 1 September 2010. 13. The Mission decided that its task required it to seek the cooperation of as wide a cross section of relevant interests as possible and in particular that of the Governments of Turkey and Israel. The Mission was greatly assisted by having discussions in Geneva with the Permanent Representatives of Israel, Jordan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. 14. The Mission wishes to place on record its appreciation for the assistance provided by the Governments of Turkey and Jordan in facilitating its visits to Istanbul, Ankara and Amman and providing relevant information, in the case of Turkey at an official level. 15. The Mission also wishes to thank the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinators and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ankara and Amman for the cooperation provided. Particular mention is also to be made of the collaboration provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA oPt), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) for briefing the Mission on the situation in the Gaza Strip. 16. The Mission expresses its profound regret that, notwithstanding a most cordial meeting on 18 August 2010, the Permanent Representative of Israel advised in writing at the end of the meeting that the position of his Government was one of non-recognition of, and non-cooperation with, the Mission. In the hope that this position would change before the conclusion of its work, the Mission left the Permanent Representative a list of requests for information.5 2 3 4 5 4 Daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. 2 August 2010. http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2010/db100802.doc.htm. Ibid. See correspondence between the Mission and the Israeli Permanent Mission in annex II. See annex II.