War between Hamas and Israel: the leader of the Islamist movement received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Cairo: Hani Kamal El-Din
The leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, was received in Istanbul (Turkey) by the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saturday April 20. According to local media, the meeting began early in the afternoon at Dolmabahce Palace, on the Bosphorus. The Turkish presidency released a series of photos showing the head of state during a meeting with Ismaïl Haniyeh and his delegation, which included Khaled Mechaal, one of the main leaders of Hamas, hugged by the head of Condition upon arrival.
According to the Turkish presidency, no press conference was planned following the meeting which lasted more than two and a half hours. Recep Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan confirmed on Friday the organization of this first tête-à-tête since July 2023, while remaining extremely discreet about its purpose: “Let’s keep the agenda to ourselves and Mr. [Ismaïl] Haniyeh”, he told journalists. Hamas, for its part, had simply clarified that the war in the Gaza Strip would be on the agenda of the discussions.
Ismaïl Haniyeh arrived in Istanbul on Friday evening and met the head of Turkish diplomacy, Hakan Fidan, with whom he already spoke at length on Wednesday in Doha (Qatar). On this occasion, the Turkish diplomat reported that Hamas representatives had “repeated that they accept[ai]ent the creation of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967″ and therefore, implicitly the existence of the State of Israel, which would lead them to “renounce armed struggle after the creation of the Palestinian state”.
This visit comes at a time when Qatar has said it wants “reevaluate” its role in the difficult discussions between Israel and Hamas, the negotiators having been offended by Israeli criticism and that of certain American Democrats. Turkey could take advantage of this to try to resume mediation. Sinan Ciddi, associate researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, recalls, however, that the Turkish president provokes rejection from Israel. Recep Tayyip Erdogan notably compared the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to “a Nazi” and called Israel “terrorist state”.
- For more: Elrisala website and for social networking, you can follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “pleinevie“
