President Obama Calls Turkish Prime Minister about Ship Incident

President Obama is working on securing the release of passengers from the Turkish-flagged ship bound for Gaza that was involved in a deadly commando raid that left nine people dead, according to a White House statement on Obama’s phone call Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.

The president expressed his condolences to Prime Minister Erdogan for the loss of life from the incident and told him that the United States is working with Israel on getting the passengers released - including the deceased and wounded.

Obama also discussed finding a way to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza "without undermining Israel’s security."

Earlier Tuesday, Erdogan addressed the Turkish Parliament in Ankara and called the incident a "massacre" and said Israel is "an aggressive state that must answer for its deeds."

** For more on the incident, check out the Special Report home page.

Fox News producer Anita Siegfriedt contributed to this report.