Be It Hamas It May

Issue #208

This PK-cake reminded us of a certain PK-park, both of which were outdone by this PK-fake photo shared by Erdoğan’s chief advisor to apparently undermine opposition politicians. All normal pre-military operation stuff.

In this week’s recap:

• Hamas leader meets Erdoğan

• Erdoğan coordinates with Baghdad, Erbil

• Steinmeier visits Turkey

• Disappointment after EC conclusions

• EU-Turkey refugee deal scrutinized

• Post-election inter-party balancing acts

• The Diyanet head’s Error-bic

And from the recap team:

• Diego Cupolo’s wide-spanning interview with Yurter Özcan, CHP’s US representative

• And don’t miss our new weekly Economy recap by Verda Uyar and Onur Hasip Yılmaz

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Erdoğan met Saturday. © TCCB

On Saturday, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Pres. Erdoğan in İstanbul. 

Erdoğan said that Turkey “continues its diplomatic efforts to draw the attention of the international community to the atrocities inflicted on the Palestinians” and stressed the importance of the Palestinians “acting in unity”.

Concerning the attacks between Israel and Iran, Erdoğan said it was important to keep the focus on Gaza.

In an interview with AA, Haniyeh praised Erdoğan’s comments likening Hamas to the National Forces, saying it was “undoubtedly a source of pride for us and the Palestinian people”.

Amid suggestions that Qatar might reconsider its role as mediator between Israel and Hamas, Turkey eyes a bigger role in regional mediation efforts. Reuters reports Ankara relayed de-escalation messages between the West and Iran in recent days.

“Meetings with the Hamas leadership are also intended to reassert Ankara’s influence in the region as it seeks to take on a mediator role, although it is unlikely that either Israel or the United States will agree to the role that Turkey wishes to play,” Evren Balta wrote for MEI.

Ömer Taşpınar, a professor at the US-based National Defense University, agreed that mediation is a bridge too far.

“Neither Israel nor Washington trust Erdoğan. [FM Hakan] Fidan is seen as a capable hand but his master is too mercurial and unpredictable of an actor,” he told Turkey recap.

“Egypt is a stronger candidate than Turkey to play a role because Israel accepts the Egyptian role. It takes two or sometimes three to tango for mediation and Israel would never dance with Erdoğan,” Taşpınar added.

This was underlined by yet another Twitter-flight between Israeli and Turkish officials following the Erdoğan-Haniyeh handshake.

Erdoğan on Tuesday said he didn’t expect Hamas to leave Doha. Yet, the meeting was seen as important for domestic purposes, with AKP officials under scrutiny for trade relations with Israel, and private companies facing continued protests.

If Ankara improves relations with Washington, Taşpınar said Turkey might play a role in the future of a post-war Gaza, possibly in reconstruction or peacekeeping efforts.

In other Gaza news, a ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’, announced it’s making preparations to sail from İstanbul to the besieged strip, aiming to break the sea blockade and deliver humanitarian aid. Islamist charity İHH is one of the main NGOs involved, but communication around the departure has been contradictory.

As some flotilla participants on Instagram announced the fleet would set sail Friday April 26, İHH told Turkey recap there was no definite date yet.

“If Erdoğan is serious about mediation, he could easily improve Turkey’s chances by making less inflammatory or provocative remarks. Everyone knows he can stop the flotilla with a phone call. That could slightly help his chances of mediation,” Taşpınar said.

– Ingrid Woudwijk