The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not worried about the latest Ankara-Tel Aviv rapprochement, but considers the entente as an opportunity to push forward the Palestinian cause, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki told CNN Turkiye on Sunday.
“We are very happy about this rapprochement,” he said, stressing that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu informed him that the recent meeting between both sides would not be at the expense of the Palestinians.
“This entente would offer the Palestinians potential means of pressure in the event of the resumption of negotiations between the two parties,” the Palestinian Minister said, adding that the PA would welcome a Turkish suggestion to sponsor negotiations with Israel.
Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for the first such trip by an Israeli leader since 2008.
Herzog quoted his Turkish counterpart as showing readiness to deal with a number of disputed issues between both sides, and he expressed a common goal of Turkey and Israel to revive bilateral political dialogue based on common interests.
The Hamas Movement, which enjoys close ties with Ankara, condemned the meeting, but avoided calling out Turkey by name.
Also, the Islamic Jihad strongly denounced Herzog’s Turkey trip, calling it “an abandonment of Palestinian.”
Their positions came as reports said Israel reportedly asked Turkey to expel Hamas officials from Ankara.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated in 2018 in the wake of border clashes with Gaza that saw dozens of Palestinians killed.
Turkey recalled its diplomats and ordered Israel's envoy out of the country.
The incident halted years of gradual reconciliation following a row over a 2010 Israeli raid on an aid ship sailing towards Gaza that killed nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists. A tenth activist wounded in the incident died in 2014 after years in a coma.
The PA wants Turkey to play a role in pushing efforts to launch a political process between the two sides. The request was presented to the International Quartet and other influential countries in recent years.
But so far, Israel has refused to engage in political talks, focusing only on talks to support the Palestinians at the economic and security levels.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to stop the policy of double standards in dealing with the Palestinians and to take courageous stands by implementing the relevant United Nations resolutions and imposing sanctions on Israel.
