Turkey's spy chief met a delegation from the Hamas terrorist organization in Ankara and discussed the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reported on Friday, citing state broadcaster TRT.
Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkey's National Intelligence Agency, had met the delegation from Hamas’ political bureau leadership, TRT said, citing Turkish security sources.
It did not specify who the members of the delegation were.
Turkey's intelligence agency has been in contact with all actors including Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the United States and is conducting intensive diplomacy for a ceasefire in Gaza, TRT said.
A Turkish official quoted by Axios that Turkey has been urging Hamas to soften its positions and move towards an agreement. This has been done at the request of the US, despite the fact that Turkey is not an official mediator in the Gaza deal.
During the meeting in Ankara "it was emphasized that Hamas had maintained a constructive and positive attitude throughout the negotiation process. However, it was noted that Israel’s imposition of new conditions was complicating the ceasefire process", the Turkish official told Axios,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and has expressed support for Hamas. In April, he met then-Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul.
Erdogan said after the meeting that Palestinian Arab unity was “vital” and added, “The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity.”
Weeks later, Erdogan boasted of the fact that more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in hospitals across Turkey and also took issue with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ reference to Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Israel and Turkey were headed towards reconciliation, but Erdogan has resumed his frequent verbal attacks on Israel since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
In one speech, the Turkish President said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “committed one of the greatest atrocities of this century in Gaza and has already put his name down in history as the butcher of Gaza."
In July, Erdogan threatened to invade Israel, saying, "We must be strong so Israel won't be able to do these things to the Palestinians. Just as we entered Karabakh and Libya, we will do the same to Israel. There's nothing left to do, we must be strong."
He then continued to lash out at Israel, claiming that it "committed acts of barbarism that will outshine and that "Gaza has become the world's largest concentration camp."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)