(Istanbul) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on the Palestinians “for unity” after his meeting in Istanbul with Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh.
The two officials met for more than two and a half hours at the Dolmabahce palace, for their first official meeting since the start of the war in Gaza last October.
Mr. Haniyeh was accompanied in particular by Khaled Mechaal, one of the main leaders of Hamas and, on the Turkish side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan and the head of the intelligence services (Mit) Ibrahim Kalin attended the meeting.
According to images released by the Turkish presidency, Mr. Erdogan warmly welcomed his hosts, described as “terrorists” by Israel and Western countries.
The Turkish head of state has always refuted this term and considers Hamas to be a “liberation” movement.
“It is vital that Palestinians act in unity in this process; the strongest response to Israel and the path to victory is through unity and integrity,” he said according to a statement from the Turkish presidency released after the meeting.
After recent tensions between Israel and Iran, Mr. Erdogan also stressed “the importance of acting in a way that keeps the focus on Gaza.”
The visit of Hamas officials to Istanbul comes at a time when Qatar, whose mediation is stalling, says it wants to “reassess” its role between Israel and Hamas.
Despite its close ties with the latter, Ankara has been excluded until now.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz castigated this meeting: “Muslim Brotherhood Alliance: rapes, murders (…) Erdogan, shame on you! » he launched on the X network, in a message in English and Turkish.
Mr. Haniyeh arrived Friday evening in Istanbul, one of his places of residence since 2011, where he has only visited officially once, in January, since the start of the war in Gaza.
He then met the head of Turkish diplomacy with whom he spoke again at length on Wednesday in Doha.
On this occasion, Mr. Fidan reported, Hamas representatives “repeated to him that they accept the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders” and therefore, implicitly the existence of the State of Israel, “ and to renounce armed struggle after the creation of the Palestinian State.”
“No more need for armed branch”
“Hamas will then no longer need to have an armed wing and will continue to exist as a political party,” detailed Mr. Fidan, who said he was “happy to receive such a message.”
This visit by Mr. Haniyeh comes at a time when Qatar, which assumes a pivotal role in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has said it wants to “reassess” its role and while the negotiations to secure a truce and the release of Israeli hostages trample.
Qatari negotiators were particularly offended by Israeli criticism and that of certain American Democrats.
Turkey could take advantage of this to try to resume mediation.
However, Sinan Ciddi, associate researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), in Washington, is cautious and predicts that Mr. Erdogan will only have a “very limited” role, alongside other mediators, due to of the rejection it arouses on the part of Israel.
“Erdogan will not be welcome,” he says, recalling that the Turkish president compared Benjamin Netanyahu to “a Nazi” and described Israel as “a terrorist state.” “At most he could be called upon to pass messages between Palestinian negotiators and Israel,” he believes.
Mr. Erdogan was still due to receive the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Choukri, at the end of the day.
During a meeting in the morning with Mr. Fidan, the two ministers insisted on the means of delivering humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza, emphasizing the “seriousness” of the situation in the Palestinian territory.
“Recent events (between Israel and Iran, editor’s note) have diverted the attention of the international community from the tragic conditions in Gaza,” lamented Mr. Choukri.
Mr. Fidan said for his part that “other countries should not say that (the situation) only concerns the Middle East. Everything about Palestine affects global fault lines.”
reference: www.lapresse.ca