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Intimidated By Israel, Turkish PM Cancelled His Meeting With Hamas Leader In Ankara

 Turks, Hamas Meet; Israel Voices Concern

Feb 17, 2006

The Boston Globe

By Amberin Zaman, Los Angeles Times

A five-member delegation from the Hamas movement, headed by its leader, Khaled Mashaal, arrived in the Turkish capital yesterday, , provoking harsh criticism from Israel and concern from US officials.

''It is hard to understand why these people went to Turkey," Raman Gissin, a spokesman for the Israeli government, told a private Turkish news channel. ''It is a serious mistake; this visit could have serious consequences for our links that could be hard to repair."

A Middle East specialist at Istanbul's Yeditepe University agreed that the meeting could prove to be a mistake for Turkey. ''It was a premature and ill-calculated move," said the specialist, Hasan Koni.

It was first announced that the delegation would be received by Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hours after the delegation arrived, the prime minister's office said the meeting would not take place.

A Turkish official close to the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity said Erdogan changed his mind in part because of pressure from the Bush administration. Instead, Mashaal and the delegation held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul at the headquarters of the governing Justice and Development party.

It was unclear why Turkey decided to receive Mashaal even before his party, which swept Palestinian elections three weeks ago, had formed a government. US and Israeli officials have insisted that they will have nothing to do with a Hamas government unless it renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

In a statement after the talks, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said ''the Hamas delegation was reminded of the expectations of the international community and of the importance of adopting a judicious, pragmatic and conciliatory approach."

Gul defended the meeting, saying that it had taken place at the request of Hamas and that Turkey's role was to help ensure that Israel and Palestinians could peacefully coexist. Since Hamas had ''won a democratic election, from now on it must act in a democratic way," he said.

Russian officials also have said they are willing to meet with Hamas. President Vladimir V. Putin said last week that he would invite leaders of the group to Moscow, and officials said that Moscow would impress on Hamas the need to stop terror and recognize Israel.

US Ambassador Ross Wilson told reporters in Ankara that the most important thing in talks with Hamas was saying that it must renounce violence.

Turkey was the first Muslim state to recognize Israel, and has close ties with the Jewish state.

But they suffered some setbacks in recent years. Tensions peaked when Erdogan accused Israel of ''state terrorism" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey also accused Israel of secretly arming and training Iraqi Kurds to help them establish an independent state that would serve as a magnet for Turkey's own restive Kurdish population.

Arab commentators said that while the decision to meet the Hamas delegation put it out of line with the United States and the European Union, it would earn Turkey respect in the Arab world.