Multiple reports this weekend indicated that the remaining senior terrorists of Hamas, spurned by Qatar, have relocated to Turkey.
The Turkish government denied that Hamas has relocated its “political” headquarters out of Doha and into Turkey, but did not directly address whether the terrorists in question were in the country or not.
Hamas is a genocidal jihadist terror organization with close ties to Iran and vocal support from Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hamas is officially the governing entity of the Gaza Strip but for years maintained its “political” offices in Qatar, where its leaders lived in luxury and engaged in fundraising and propaganda efforts for the jihadists on the ground.
Hamas has waged war against Israel for decades, calling for the destruction of the country and attempting to bring it about through terrorism. Israel formally declared war on Hamas on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza and staged an unprecedented massacre, killing an estimated 1,200 people, abducting over 200 others, and engaging in widespread acts of torture, gang rape, infanticide, and other atrocities. Since the war began, Israel has successfully eliminated many of Hamas’s top leaders, including Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar and “political bureau” chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was based in Doha.
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After over a year of war, the Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported last week that the Qatari government had apparently tired of hosting Hamas and agreed to expel its leadership from Doha. Rumors had swirled for days that the government of Qatar, which has carved out a reputation for itself as being a reliable mediator country, had seen no progress in negotiations between Hamas and the Israeli government to release the hostages remaining and would move to expel the terrorists from its land. Observers noted the timing of the report, following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on November 5. Trump was a firm supporter of Israel during his first term in office and has promised to endeavor to help Israel defeat Hamas as rapidly as possible.
Reports also indicated this week that Qatari officials had stopped efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel in response to “a lack of willingness from both sides to engage constructively,” according to an anonymous source cited by NBC News.
The Times of Israel reported on Monday, citing an unnamed “Arab diplomat,” that the Hamas leaders who have survived the war so far left Qatar for Turkey last week.
“The Arab diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, downplayed the significance of the move for the terror group, stressing that Hamas’s leadership abroad already spends much of its time in Turkey when they are not holding meetings in Qatar,” the Times of Israel added.
The newspaper added that Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, had first similarly reported that Qatar was expelling Hamas leaders from the country.
“Doha stressed at the time that its decision wasn’t necessarily permanent and that it would be prepared to resume mediation efforts if the sides were willing to negotiate in good faith toward a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement,” it added.
The Jerusalem Post, translating a Kan report on Sunday, also reported that Hamas terrorists had relocated to Turkey.
The state-run Turkish Anadolu news agency reported on Monday that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had denied that the entirety of Hamas’s “political bureau” had moved into Turkey: “Claims that the Hamas Political Bureau has relocated to Türkiye do not reflect the truth.” The report said nothing about Hamas terrorists being present in Turkey or flying into the country in recent days, only that they had made no official decision to relocate into Turkey.
The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet also reported on the news and quoted anonymous Turkish officials who said that the presence of Hamas terrorists in the country was not necessarily a new development deviating from the norm.
“The members of the Hamas political bureau visit Türkiye from time to time. But claims that the Hamas political bureau has moved to Türkiye do not reflect the reality,” Hurriyet‘s source said.
“Türkiye and Qatar enjoy very good ties and agree on most regional issues. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani paid a working visit to Ankara last week to hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” the newspaper noted.
Erdogan, the Turkish president, is an avowed Islamist and supporter of Hamas. He has repeatedly stated in public that, in his eyes, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization,” and accused Israel of “genocide” for attempting to prevent a repeat of the atrocities of October 7. Shortly after the attack, Erdogan convened what he called the “Great Palestine Rally,” a massive event at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport in support of the terrorists.
A year later, Erdogan marked the anniversary of the terrorist attack with a rant comparing the Israeli government to Nazi Germany and defending Hamas.
“It should not be forgotten that Israel will sooner or later pay the price for this genocide that has been going on for a year,” Erdogan wrote in a social media statement on October 7, 2024. “Just as humanity’s common alliance stopped Hitler, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way.”
Erdogan vowed Turkey would “stand against the Israeli government regardless of the cost.”
Turkey is nonetheless a member of the NATO military alliance and maintains friendly relations with many Western nations, particularly the United States, Israel’s top ally. The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden has largely tolerated Erdogan’s advocacy for Hamas, failing to address it in talks about NATO or other topics of bilateral interest. Allowing Hamas to open a formal office in Ankara would likely escalate concerns about Turkey’s support for terrorists and potentially damage relations with the incoming Trump administration.
Erdogan responded to Trump’s election win by inviting him to Turkey and expressing interest in expanding conversations.
“We will continue our talks with Donald Trump and discuss how we will shape developments in the Middle East, as we did before, through telephone diplomacy. For example, we will evaluate the issue of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria,” he said at the time.
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