Turkey has rejected the Israeli occupation’s request to deport Hamas leaders living in the country, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.
Responding to a question from MPs, Cavusoglu said Turkey does not view the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas as a terror group and refused to expel the movement’s members.
“We did not satisfy any [Israeli] request on Hamas, because we do not perceive Hamas as a terror group,” Cavusoglu said.
“We are always leading efforts to unify them with Fatah,” he added, referring to Hamas’ political rival, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA).
In October, Israeli War Minister Benny Gantz asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to expel Hamas leaders living in the country during a visit to Ankara.
Since 2020, Israeli occupation officials have demanded Turkey take concrete measures to restrict the presence of Hamas leaders in the country.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=29717