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Erdogan: Hamas Is Not an Arm of Iran

Erdogan: Hamas Is Not an Arm of Iran
folder_openIran access_time15 years ago
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Source: Agencies, 01-02-2009

Hamas is a political party, not an "arm of Iran," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Newsweek magazine published online Saturday. "If the whole world had given them the chance of becoming a political player maybe they would not be in a situation like this after the elections that they won."

Erdogan went on to say that the "political will of the Palestinian people" had been ignored by the world, in that the international community fails to "respect" Hamas' legitimacy. "Palestine today is an open-air prison," he said.

In the interview, which will appear in the February 9 issue of the magazine, Erdogan also spoke of indirect negotiations between "Israel" and Syria, which Turkey brokered last year. He said he was involved in "very intense telephone diplomacy" between "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad. He segued into speaking of Hamas, saying that the group should have been involved in the "Israel"-Syria talks.

"Moreover during that talk, I said to Prime Minister Olmert that I believed I could be successful in freeing the captured ‘Israeli' soldier Gilad Shalit," he added.
Erdogan said he told Olmert that Turkey could have mediated in order to secure Shalit's release and that "Israel" would have to free jailed Hamas leaders in return.

Ties have been particularly strained between "Israel" and Turkey recently due to Erdogan's criticism of "Israeli" occupation army "Operation Cast Lead" in Gaza and his public spat with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

During the Newsweek interview, Erdogan again slammed the Gaza offensive, reiterating his previous accusations of a disproportionate response to Hamas rocket fire on the Zinonist entity. He added, however, "I'm not saying that Hamas is a good organization and makes no mistakes. They have made mistakes, but I am evaluating the end result."

He went on to rebut criticism labeling his recent comments on "Israel" as anti-Semitic, saying "I have always declared that anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity... my frustration is against the current ‘Israeli' government."

"Everything we have said is against the current ‘Israeli' government, nothing against Jews," he added. "I have stated very clearly that anyone who even thinks about doing anything against the Jews in Turkey will find me against them," he said, quipping, "Of course, I'm not going to ask Olmert to write my speeches."

Finally, answering a question on whether US President Barack Obama would "play a more even-handed role between the Palestinians and the ‘Israelis'," he said, "There is no justice right now. We expect justice from now on."

Meanwhile, "Israeli" Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that while "Israel" had important strategic ties with Turkey, it also had "difficult" disagreements with the country over several issues, including policies regarding Hamas.

Livni told "Israel" Radio that she expected Turkey to respect "Israel's" position despite "hard" pictures coming out of Gaza and the numerous anti-"Israel" demonstrations in the country.

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