The Times of Israel reports: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he consulted with the Palestinian Authority and with Hamas before moving forward with a reconciliation deal with Israel, signed last week.
Speaking at a dinner in Istanbul on Sunday, Erdogan said Turkey’s “main concern” when negotiating with Israel to end over six years of tense relations was welfare of “Gazans and we made our consultations with [Hamas political bureau chief] Khaled Mashaal, [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbbas and [Hamas leader in Gaza] Ismail Haniyeh while making the deal with Israel.”
Erdogan defended the rapprochement deal with Israel, and another with Russia, saying that Turkey needed to broaden its “radius of action” to cooperate on regional crises.
Erdogan said “the country has become the target of the world’s bloodiest terrorist organizations,” in reference to last week’s multiple shooting and suicide attack at the Istanbul airport that killed over 40 people and wounded more than 200.
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