Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in a speech to members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Wednesday that he will host Hamas “political” leader Ismail Haniyeh this weekend in Turkey.
The visit will following a reported meeting between Haniyeh and Erdogan’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Qatar on Tuesday.
Erdogan used his speech – which reports indicate was interrupted by cheers of “death to Israel” – to reiterate his false claim that Hamas “is not a terrorist organization” and compare the jihadists to the fighters that established the Republic of Turkey in the early 20th century. Erdogan notably referred to Haniyeh as “the leader of the Palestinian cause” in his remarks, in apparent dismissal of the Palestinian Authority and its elderly leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and of rival jihadist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hamas, a jihadist terror organization bankrolled by state sponsor of terrorism Iran, controls the territory of Gaza but its elite leaders, such as Haniyeh, live in luxury in Doha, Qatar, receiving safe haven alongside the leaders of similar terrorist organizations from the government there.
Erdogan is one of Hamas’s most vocal supporters on the international stage, complicating Turkey’s close relationship to Israel’s top ally America. Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance, meaning America is treaty-bound to defend Turkey from any foreign invasion if it invokes Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and vice versa. Despite being a member of a largely Western alliance, Turkey has enthusiastically supported Hamas in the aftermath of its harrowing October 7 siege of Israel, in which Hamas terrorists butchered entire families in their homes and engaged in torture, gang rape, and other atrocities.
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh makes a speech during the 12th conference on Jerusalem entitled, “The Vanguards of Jerusalem hold its Sword,” in Istanbul, Turkey on December 2, 2021. (Omer Ensar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Hamas killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israel on October 7 and abducted about 250, of which 133 are believed to remain in terrorist custody, likely in Gaza.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Erdogan boasted that he would “be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people … as long as God grants me life.” He accused Israel of engaging in “massacres” during its self-defense operations in Gaza following October 7 while simultaneously defending Hamas, the group responsible for the slaughter that necessitated Israel’s Gaza incursion.
“When no one else would speak, we stood up and said: ‘Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a resistance group,” Erdogan said proudly, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
“I will host the leader of the Palestinian cause at the weekend. We will discuss a number of issues,” Erdogan promised, apparently referring to Haniyeh.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Haniyeh had met with Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, on Tuesday in anticipation of his visit. The news outlet claimed the two discussed “humanitarian aid to Gaza, ceasefire efforts and talks on hostages.” While a close ally of the Turkish authoritarian government, Haniyeh has not met with Erdogan since October 7, last visiting Ankara in July alongside Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Erdogan’s immediate reaction to the October 7 atrocities – which included reported incidents of Hamas members executing women during gang-rapes and the discovery of the decapitated bodies of infants – was to reject the notion that Hamas was a terrorist organization.
The Turkish government orchestrated a massive rally at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport in late October to defend Hamas, which Erdogan branded the “Great Palestine Rally” and claimed was attended by 1.5 million Turks.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organization,” he repeated at that event, referring instead to the Israel government as a terrorist group and “war criminal.”
File/Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (3rd-R) waves upon his arrival at a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas’ founding, in Gaza City December 16, 2018. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty)
Of the horrors of October 7, Erdogan dismissed them as “regrettable” but insisted, “none of these can serve as an excuse for campaigns aimed at discrediting the resistance carried out by the Palestinian people under various names.”
In addition to agitating Islamist sentiments against Israel, Erdogan’s AKP has launched a campaign against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In November, AKP lawyers claimed they had contacted the International Criminal Court (ICC) demanding it open a case against Netanyahu on the dubious allegation of “genocide.” The attorneys referred to Netanyahu as the “Hitler of this century.”
The Turkish government cut diplomatic ties with Israel in November and launched a trade war with the country in April, announcing restrictions on 54 categories of exports to Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz issued a statement saying the country would “respond accordingly and prepare an extended list of additional products that Israel will prevent Turkey from exporting.”
Turkey has also warmed ties with neighboring Iran, the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism and a state whose ideology is explicitly genocidal against Israel. Erdogan hosted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in January for discussions on how best to support Hamas. This week, Erdogan and his government have enthusiastically supported Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone barrage against Israel, calling for the world to “immediately restrain Israel” to prevent it from defending itself against Iran’s largely failed bombing.
Iran launched over 300 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Israel on Saturday, 99 percent of which were intercepted, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
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