Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held on Wednesday a tripartite closed meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and head of Hamas political bureau Ismail Haniyeh in Ankara.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks focused on the meeting of the general secretaries to be held in Cairo on July 29-30 and the efforts to make the inter-Palestinian dialogue a success.
The sources added that the meeting touched on the developments in the Palestinian territories and the Israeli escalation in Jenin and the West Bank, in addition to the aggressions on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Gaza Strip.
The tripartite meeting follows a meeting between the delegations of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to discuss ways to ensure the success of the meeting of the general secretaries in Cairo.
Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas politburo, said that the meeting witnessed "a frank and in-depth discussion within the framework of completing the movement's consultations with the various Palestinian factions, to prepare well for the meeting of the general secretaries in Cairo."
According to Badran, the two sides agreed on the need to unify national efforts to confront the dangers looming over the Palestinian cause, especially those posed by the Israeli government.
"This government wants to swallow up the land, expand settlements, and control the capabilities of our people, and at the forefront of that is the main danger related to the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem," he added.
This is the first meeting between Abbas and the Hamas leadership since his meeting with Haniyeh in July as per an initiative taken by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the anniversary of the Independence Day of Algeria.
The Palestinian presidency didn’t comment on the meeting with the Hamas delegation in Ankara.
The meeting of the general secretaries would be held in Cairo for the first time in years. Abbas called for the meeting in July in the wake of an Israeli military operation in Jenin camp in the West Bank that killed 12 and wounded dozens.
Erdogan and Abbas discussed the Palestinian developments, the escalation in Israeli attacks, the aggressions on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Palestinian internal dialogue to take place in Cairo.
Abbas arrived in Ankara on Monday amid rising concerns of renewed Israeli attacks on Palestinian territories. Haniyeh arrived on Tuesday.
During a press conference with Abbas concluding their talks in Ankara Tuesday, Erdogan strongly rejected any actions that seek to alter the historical status quo of holy places, particularly the al-Aqsa Mosque.
“The only way to a just and lasting peace in the region is to defend the vision of a two-state solution,” he added.
"Establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on United Nations parameters, is a fundamental prerequisite for peace in our entire region."
“We will continue to support the Palestinian cause in the strongest way possible,” Erdogan said alongside Abbas.
“We are deeply worried about the increasing loss of lives, destruction, the expansion of illegal settlements, and settlers’ violence,” added the Turkish leader.
For his part, Abbas said that they appreciate Türkiye’s support for the Palestinian people.
Abbas pointed to the challenges facing Palestinians, given the current “extreme right-wing” Israeli government’s efforts to undermine the political process through “racist and colonial practices.”
