Israel Matzav

Turkey denies promising Hamas $300 million

“Turkey has been one of the strongest advocates of the Palestinian case,” President Abdullah Gül was quoted as saying by the Cihan news agency on Sunday. “Hamas is a political body that entered into elections in the Palestinian region of Gaza and came to power through the votes of the people,” Gül said, countering Western claims that Hamas draws its power from terrorist activity. “Our contact [with Hamas] has been constant, but we will have to wait and see what has come out of the frequent visits,” he added, without overlooking the possibility that Hamas might be more engaged with Turkey in the future.

As Hamas gets ready to leave Syria for good, its final decision on where to set up camp has begun to draw the attention of the international media, which recently speculated that Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, on his first visit to Turkey in early January, was promised that Turkey would give Hamas around $300 million to make up for the void created by suspended financial aid from Iran, which stopped flowing in August, according to Reuters.

Officials from Turkey's Foreign Ministry approached by Today's Zaman on Sunday denied allegations that Turkey is offering millions of dollars to Hamas, saying that news featuring these allegations was made up and did not reflect the truth.

“There is no cash aid to Hamas, but Turkey is, of course, engaged in projects to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza,” officials said and added, “A $40 million hospital project is one of them, but the construction material for the hospital is not allowed into Gaza.” Turkey frequently complains about an Israeli blockade of Gaza that Israel says is needed to block weapons from reaching Hamas, which Israel considers its archenemy, but which in reality chokes the Gazan economy and keeps Gazans underserved and underdeveloped.

Hamas has made it public that it is mulling over where it will call home next, and Turkey, along with Egypt, Qatar and Jordan, have been included on the list of possible hosts.

Labels: Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:28 AM