Ya Libnan

Erdogan, Hamas chief meet in Istanbul as Israel, Turkey move to restore ties

Share:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Istanbul, Turkey, December 19, 2015 in this handout photo provided by the Presidential Palace. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Istanbul, Turkey, December 19, 2015 in this handout photo provided by the Presidential Palace. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met with Khaled Meshaal, leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, on Saturday in Istanbul, Turkish presidential sources said, a day after Israel and Turkey said they were close to patching up five-year political rift.

A source from Erdogan’s office said Meshaal “briefed Erdogan on the latest developments in the region”, without giving further details. Islamist Hamas controls the Gaza strip.

Israeli officials said late on Thursday that a deal with Turkey was struck to normalize ties following high-level bilateral talks in Switzerland.

Turkish officials said a final agreement was yet to be sealed, but that given the progress it would not be too long.

Israel’s once-strong ties to Turkey soured in 2010 when Israeli commandoes killed 10 Turkish activists when storming the Mavi Marmara, a ship in a convoy seeking to break an Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Turkey had demanded Israel apologize over the assault, pay compensation and lift the Gaza blockade. For Israel, limiting Hamas activity in Turkey has been key.

Under the preliminary deal between the two countries, Saleh al-Aruori, a senior leader in the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas who has been living in Turkey, would be barred from the country, the Israeli official had said.

The Turkish charity IHH, which was a key part of the Freedom Flotilla, has condemned reports of the Turkish-Israeli deal on its Twitter account, saying it would harm both the Turkish and Palestinian peoples.

IHH said it would continue to work to end the blockade on Gaza and would not withdraw legal cases filed against Israeli officials.

Share:

Comments

9 responses to “Erdogan, Hamas chief meet in Istanbul as Israel, Turkey move to restore ties”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    If Gaza is an ‘open-air prison’, how did Khaled Meshaal get to Turkey? In a refugee pontoon boat?
    Oh .. wait .. is he running things from a Hacienda with Swimming pool in a remote resort Island? :-)))
    Did ‘Freedom Flotilla’ float over to chat too?? :-)))

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      He doesn’t live in Gaza sir 5th.. big mouth
      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9730669/Khaled-Meshaal-How-Mossad-bid-to-assassinate-Hamas-leader-ended-in-fiasco.html

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Good joke on old Netty there, for sure … but it still doesn’t say that Meshaal suffers living with ‘his people’. If those 2 actually got together, they might find amazing similarities of thought, if not the beards. 😉
        Smart Jordanian king, for sure. One UP for that guy. Not sure anyone can say the same for Erdy.
        As far as stealing Canadian passports goes, many seem to. Slight problem with ‘trust’.
        Hopefully we are correcting that.

  2. Rudy1947 Avatar
    Rudy1947

    The leech of Hamas slithers through the cracks seeking a money making (for himself) opportunity.

  3. Isaac Avatar
    Isaac

    Weird. Erdogan took the path of Islamization for Turkey and now there is a deal between Israel and Islamist Turkey. How this could be? Erdogan is dangerous hypocrite and he supports ISIS and attacks Kurds who want their own state just like Israel. I never heard about the Muslims who agree with Israel’s existence and I doubt that Erdogan is to be the first one who wishes best for Israel. I won’t be surprised if ISIS after the deal with Turkey will turn at Israel. Erdogan buys oil from ISIS, heals its militants and why he shouldn’t help them to attack Israel? Israel needs to push the world community to isolate Turkey as dangerous and reckless state guided by an Islamist and maybe even to exclude it from NATO.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Well, yes … a weird world. Why do people need ‘DEALS’ to be friends? This is like ‘buying favours’ … and thus, in reality, a set of very doubtful friends. It’s like more economic relations, not friendships.
      Lots of other examples.
      Netty begs for more money from USA, to do things USA is not happy about him doing. Go figure, eh??.
      But maybe that’s all any of these things are … Business. As usual.
      God didn’t say ‘Whack Your Neighbour’. But also didn’t say ‘Don’t make a Deal’. ;-))
      Look how fast people are itching to dive back into IRAN to do Business … with smiles … pretending to be friends on all sides. They are making deals even before it’s ‘allowed’ to happen.
      Russia had a lot of it’s people killed by Radicals … but it’s helping Iran meet deadlines – for Business.
      So you should say ‘Strange Bedfellows’ when they “move to restore ties”.
      And then watch the market-place. Somebody’s making money no matter what.

  4. Hind Abyad Avatar
    Hind Abyad

    Erdogan says Kurdish militants will be ‘annihilated’

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/erdogan-turkey-crush-kurdish-syria-saudi-iran-zarif.html#ixzz3uyRXbKLT

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Before I read it, I’d assume Netty is saying: ‘Look, all the Kurds should be on the ‘no-bomb’ list. Part of
      ‘The Deal’. Take it or leave it.’

      1. Hind Abyad Avatar
        Hind Abyad

        For Nitinyahoo, one is on the list the other is not, for Errdog it’s all Kurds.

        An old Turkish proverb says, “You can’t carry two watermelons under one arm.
        http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/turkey-syria-russia-kurdish-war-gives-putin-a-card.html#ixzz3uz0PfmbZ

Leave a Reply