The meeting lasted more than two and a half hours at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. It was the first official meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh since the start of the war in Gaza last October. If Hamas is often considered a “terrorist” group according to Western countries and Israel, the Turkish president has always refuted this term and considers Hamas to be a “liberation” movement.
“It is vital that Palestinians act in unity in this process; the strongest response to Israel and the path to victory is through unity and integrity,” he said according to a statement from the Turkish presidency released after the meeting. After recent tensions between Israel and Iran, Erdogan also stressed “the importance of acting in a way that keeps the focus on Gaza.”
A step towards the creation of a Palestinian state
The visit of Hamas officials to Istanbul comes at a time when Qatar, whose mediation is stalling, says it wants to “reassess” its role between Israel and Hamas. Despite its close ties with the latter, Ankara has been excluded until now. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz castigated this meeting: “Muslim Brotherhood Alliance: rapes, murders (…) Erdogan, shame on you! » he launched on the X network, in a message in English and Turkish.
Ismaël Haniyeh arrived Friday evening in Istanbul, one of his places of residence since 2011, where he has only visited officially once, in January, since the start of the war in Gaza. He then met the head of Turkish diplomacy with whom he spoke again at length on Wednesday in Doha.
On this occasion, the representatives of Hamas “repeated to him that they accept the creation of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967” and therefore, implicitly the existence of the State of Israel, “and to renounce the struggle army after the creation of the Palestinian state.
Turkey, new mediator?
This visit by Ismaël Haniyeh comes at a time when Qatar, which assumes a pivotal role in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has said it wants to “reevaluate” its role and while negotiations to secure a truce and the release of Israeli hostages are stalling. . Qatari negotiators were particularly offended by Israeli criticism and that of certain American Democrats. Turkey could take advantage of this to try to resume mediation.
However, Sinan Ciddi, associate researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), in Washington, is cautious and predicts only a “very limited” role for Erdogan, alongside other mediators, due to the rejection that he arouses on the part of Israel. “Erdogan will not be welcome,” he says, recalling that the Turkish president compared Benjamin Netanyahu to “a Nazi” and described Israel as “a terrorist state.” “At most he could be called upon to pass messages between Palestinian negotiators and Israel,” he believes.
Erdogan was still due to receive Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Choukri at the end of the day.