February 16, 2006 Hamas leader Meshal’s visit to Ankara has started a crisis between Israel and Turkey. Israel claims that this visit is a mistake that will open deep wounds between the two countries. Israeli official said, “What if we were to host Öcalan, what would Turkey say?” referring to the Kurdish insurgent leader captured […]
February 16, 2006
Hamas leader Meshal’s visit to Ankara has started a crisis between Israel and Turkey. Israel claims that this visit is a mistake that will open deep wounds between the two countries. Israeli official said, “What if we were to host Öcalan, what would Turkey say?” referring to the Kurdish insurgent leader captured with the help of CIA.
Halid Meshal, the newly elected Hamas’ leader from Palestine, gave a surprise visit to Ankara that started the political crises between the two countries. After calling the Israeli Foreign Secretary Livni, the Turkish Foreign Minister Gül received the message that Israel opposed the visit in no ambiguous terms. Israel’s government spokesperson, Raanan Gissin, on the other hand, said this visit was a mistake, which will open deep wounds between the two countries. Answering the questions of Ahmet Yeşitepe of the Ntv news, Raanan Gissin said, “What would you have felt if we got together with Abdullah Öcalan?”
The meeting with the Hamas leader is taking place at the ruling JDP’s (Justice and Development Party) headquarters and is being attended by the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül. US Ambassador, on the other hand, said, “We do not have any concerns over the Hamas leader’s visit to Ankara.”
Israel Foreign Secretary Livni expressed his disappointment to his Turkish counterpart and said, “There are expectations of the international community. If these expectations are not satisfied, there is no need for any mediator.” It was reported that Gül replied, “The Hamas visit will take place. We have decided for ourselves.”
Gül said the messages about the expectations of the international community would be related to the Hamas in these meetings, and there was no need for any concerns on this subject. Diplomatic sources report that if Hamas is not taken as a counterpart, this will bring forth the more radical elements in the organization. Until now, only Sudan and Saudi Arabia has recognized Hamas after their sweeping victory in the latest Palestinian elections.
It was also reported that the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül has called and gave information about the Hamas visit to the German Foreign Secretary Steinmeier.
Meshal will not hold any meetings with the Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, but have started meetings with the Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and the Deputy President of the ruling JDP (Justice and Development Party) Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat. After these meetings, in a given statement he said they would consider the Turkish suggestions.
Hamas leader Halid Meshal said the democratic environment in Turkey had become a model for them. He also added that they would struggle to have the Palestinians live a balanced and civilized life. Fırat, in response to this said they got the impression from Meshal’s words that Hamas was prepared to abandon the armed struggle.
At the end of the two-hour meeting, Meshal said they had received serious and beneficial suggestions. He added that they would assess these suggestions and added that the Turkish government repeated the support given by other Arab countries. He also stated that their priority was to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and their goal was to free Palestine from its occupation.
ISRAEL’S RAGE AGAINST THE VISIT
Answering Ntv reporter Ahmet Yeşiltepe’s questions, Israel’s Government spokesperson Raanan Gissin said there was no justified reason for Ankara to accept the visit from Meshal and said, “To form a relationship with the head of a terrorist organization is the worst blow to the Middle East peace process.”
Raanan Gissin reminded that the US and the EU had put Hamas in its terrorist list and stated, “We are unable to understand why Turkey has made such a mistake.”
“WHAT WOULD YOUR PM THINK IF WE MET WITH ÖCALAN?”
Government spokesperson for Israel repeated that until Hamas accepts the state of Israel, abandons their dream of destroying Israel and stop their terrorist actions they will never sit down to negotiate with them. He said, “We are wondering, for example, if the State of Israel was to negotiate with Abdullah Öcalan and his people, invites them to Israel, what would the Turkish PM think? This is what we are feeling at this moment and we are having a hard time understanding this insensitivity.”
G.Y.
