Türkiye announced that the Palestinian Authority welcomed the establishment of relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, and that the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements strongly desired that as well, as the country would better defend the Palestinian cause.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu commented on the talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara, which started on Tuesday, stressing that the Palestinian Authority welcomed the establishment of relations between his country and Israel.
Cavusoglu added that the Hamas and Fatah movements strongly desired Türkiye to normalize its ties with Israel, as it would better defend them on issues related to the Palestinian cause.
Last week, Israel and Türkiye announced the complete normalization of relations between them, and the return of the ambassadors of the two countries, following a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Erdogan.
In a short statement issued on Tuesday, Hamas rejected Cavusoglu’s claims on the movement’s “acceptance” to normalizing relations between the two countries.
“We stress our rejection of all forms of normalization, which contradict our national principles and the interests of our people and the peoples of the Arab and Islamic region,” the movement said.
The Islamic Jihad also strongly condemned Türkiye’s normalization of relations with Israel. The movement’s spokesman, Tariq Salmi, said that exchanging ambassadors with the occupation entity and normalizing relations… will encourage the occupation to commit more aggression.”
