Turkey could host Hamas bureau: President Gül
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
REUTERS photo
A continuation of Turkey’s cooperation with Hamas might be clarified in the near future, President Abdullah Gül said in reference to the possibility that Turkey could host a Hamas bureau.“Turkey is one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian case. And Hamas is an important political formation which participated and succeeded in elections,” Gül said in reply to media reports that Hamas would open an official office in Turkey in the coming weeks.
Cooperation will be seen in the future, Gül said.
A recent official tour by Hamas’ Gaza chief, Ismail Haniyeh, opened the door to financial cooperation between the militant group and Turkey, a high-ranking Hamas official said told the Qatar-based Al-Sharq newspaper.
The official told the newspaper that Turkey had agreed to carry out a project to support Hamas and rebuild Gaza. According to the official, Hamas will open an official office in Turkey in the coming weeks.
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials also denied media reports suggesting that Turkey had replaced Iran as the largest donor to Hamas, pledging $300 million over the coming year. “The report does not reflect the truth,” a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
Meanwhile, dozens of Hamas members have reportedly returned quietly to Gaza from Damascus as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime grows increasingly unstable. Hamas leaders in Syria are planning to move the Damascus bureau, and Qatar, Egypt and Turkey are among the alternatives, according to reports.
