PodcastErdoğan meets with Hamas leaders, including Saleh al-Arouri, in Istanbul
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Hamas leadership in Istanbul on Aug. 22. The group's leader Ismail Haniyeh and its number two figure Saleh al-Arouri, who was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. and has a $5 million bounty on his head, attended the meeting. The meeting was held amid escalated cross-border tensions between Israel and Hamas.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Hamas leadership in Istanbul on Aug. 22.
The group's leader Ismail Haniyeh and its number two figure Saleh al-Arouri, who was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. and has a $5 million bounty on his head, attended the meeting.
Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın were also present.
Cumhurbaşkanı @RTErdogan, Hamas Siyasi Büro Başkanı İsmail Heniyye ve beraberindeki heyeti Vahdettin Köşkü’nde kabul etti. pic.twitter.com/R6H2bTsb2T
— T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı (@tcbestepe) August 22, 2020
The meeting was held amid escalated cross-border tensions between Israel and Hamas.
"The Egyptians, the Qataris and [U.N. Middle East envoy] Nickolay Mladenov have stepped up their efforts in order to restore calm, but calm can only come if Israel agrees to demands presented by Hamas and other factions," a Palestinian official told Reuters on Aug. 21.
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