Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the developments in the Palestinian territories, the recent Israeli raids in Jenin and the West Bank, and the intra-Palestinian dialogue.
Erdogan received Abbas with an official ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara and held a closed session on Tuesday, and the delegations later joined them.
Abbas arrived in Ankara on Monday on a two-day visit, and it came at a time of rising fears of renewed Israeli violence and attacks on the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian ambassador to Türkiye, Faed Mustafa, said that the increasing Israeli attacks are on the agenda of the talks between Abbas and Erdogan.
Ankara is concerned that the escalation will lead to a new round of violence.
Diplomatic sources said that Abbas' visit came before a scheduled visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was postponed after he was hospitalized and underwent surgery to have a pacemaker fitted.
- Activating Türkiye's Regional Role
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that, after the elections, Ankara focused on revitalizing its foreign policy and activating its regional role after taking important steps to normalize and improve relations with Egypt and the Arab Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia.
They added that Ankara wants to be more active in resolving regional issues, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, believing that the Turkish-Palestinian dialogue can open doors for more realistic cooperation.
The sources stressed that the Turkish move would not be affected by the development of normalization of relations with Israel.
Abbas' visit is an opportunity for Türkiye to confirm that the normalization process with Israel will not harm its relations with Palestine, the sources pointed out.
The Abbas-Erdogan meeting came a week before talks in Egypt aimed at resuming the reconciliation between the secretaries of the Palestinian factions.
- Hamas and Islamic Jihad
Ahead of the visit, Fatah spokesman in Gaza Monzer Hayek announced that Abbas would meet the Hamas leadership during his visit to Türkiye, which affirms the President and the movement's role in overcoming obstacles and ensuring the success of the meeting in Cairo.
Hamas agreed to participate in the meeting without conditions, unlike the Islamic Jihad movement, which stipulated that the Palestinian Authority (PA) release political prisoners.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian dialogue issue will be included in an upcoming meeting between Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
A Hamas source told the German news agency that the meeting would be held under Turkish auspices following Abbas' meeting with Erdogan in Ankara.
He stated that the meeting between Abbas and the movement's leadership would discuss the requirements for the success of the meeting in light of Hamas' efforts to prepare an agenda with precise mechanisms to unify Palestinian actions in the face of the Israeli attacks.
On Monday, Hamas announced that it had held bilateral meetings with Palestinian factions to discuss ways to ensure the success of the meeting of the general secretaries and agree on a unified vision.
Egypt is scheduled to host a meeting of the Palestinian factions on July 30.
Abbas called for the meeting in early July after the Israeli military operation in the Jenin camp in the West Bank, which killed 12 Palestinians and wounded dozens.
For years, Egypt has been hosting meetings of the Palestinian factions to end the internal division that has been going on since 2007, but a series of agreements and understandings have not found their way to implementation.
