عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Israel Says Normalizing Ties with Turkey Hinges on Closure of Hamas’ Istanbul Office

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020. (AP)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020. (AP)
TT
20
TT

Israel Says Normalizing Ties with Turkey Hinges on Closure of Hamas’ Istanbul Office

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020. (AP)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020. (AP)

Israel relayed a statement to Ankara that there would be no thaw in relations until the Hamas office in Istanbul is shut down, the Israel’s Ynet reported on Monday.

Israel has made this a precondition to returning its ambassador to Ankara.

Israel issued a statement to Turkey on Monday, saying it will not normalize its relations with Ankara until it shutters the activities of the Hamas office, which effectively operates as a military wing.

The office is responsible for directing terrorist activities in the West Bank, recruiting Palestinians for terrorist activities, financing terrorist activities in the West Bank and transferring funds to Hamas' military infrastructure, political sources in Tel Aviv told Ynet.

Bilateral ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been strained for over a decade, ever since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, when Israeli soldiers seized the “freedom flotilla” sailing towards the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the blockade against it.

Both countries pulled out their ambassadors respectively in 2018, downgrading their ties to the level of charges d'affaires.

The crisis did not impact economic, commercial and tourist ties between them. In fact, the cooperation increased and Haifa Port became a key station for Turkish trade to the Arab world (via Jordan). The volume of trade between the two sides exceeds USD6 billion.

Ankara would like better ties with Israel, but the Israeli policy towards the Palestinians remains “unacceptable”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month.

“The Palestine policy is our red line. It is impossible for us to accept Israel’s Palestine policies. Their merciless acts there are unacceptable,” he added.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

French, Algerian Ties ‘Back to Normal’, France Says after Talks

This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
TT
20
TT

French, Algerian Ties ‘Back to Normal’, France Says after Talks

This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)

France's foreign minister said on Sunday that ties with Algeria were back to normal after he held 2 1/2 hours of talks with Algeria's president following months of bickering that have hurt Paris' economic and security interests in its former colony.

Ties between Paris and Algiers have been complicated for decades, but took a turn for the worse last July when Macron angered Algeria by recognizing a plan for autonomy for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty.

A poor relationship has major security, economic and social repercussions: trade is extensive and some 10% of France's 68 million population has links to Algeria, according to French officials.

"We are reactivating as of today all the mechanisms of cooperation in all sectors. We are going back to normal and to repeat the words of President (Abdelmadjid) Tebboune: 'the curtain is lifted'," Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement at the presidential palace in Algiers after 2 1/2 hours of talks.

His visit comes after a call between President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Tebboune on March 31, during which the two agreed to a broad roadmap to calm tensions.

French officials say Algiers had put obstacles to administrative authorizations and new financing for French firms operating in the country.

Nowhere was that felt more than in wheat imports. Traders say the diplomatic rift led Algerian grains agency OAIC to tacitly exclude French wheat and firms in its import tenders since October. OAIC has said it treats all suppliers fairly, applying technical requirements.

Barrot said he had specifically brought up the difficulties regarding economic exchanges, notably in the agrobusiness, automobile and maritime transport sectors.

"President Tebboune reassured me of his will to give them new impetus," Barrot said.

Beyond business, the relationship has also soured to the point where security cooperation stopped. The detention by Algiers in November of 80-year-old Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal also worsened the relationship.

He has since been sentenced to five years in prison. Barrot said he hoped a gesture of "humanity" could be made by Algiers given his age and health.

With Macron's government under pressure to toughen immigration policies, the spat has fed into domestic politics in both countries.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has called for a 1968 pact between the two countries that makes it easier for Algerians to settle in France to be reviewed, after Algiers refused to take back some of its citizens who were ordered to leave France under the "OQTF" (obligation to leave French territory) deportation regime.

Barrot said Retailleau would soon go to Algiers and that the two sides would resume cooperation on judicial issues.

The relationship between the two countries is scarred by the trauma of the 1954-1962 war in which the North African country, which had a large settler population and was treated as an integral part of France under colonial rule, won independence.