Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza following hourslong talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in İstanbul on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the president’s office.
Erdoğan has sought but failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the Middle East since October 7.
Tensions in the region are running high as the Hamas-run Palestinian territory braces for a new Israeli offensive, after an attack reportedly carried out by Israel on Iran early Friday morning.
Erdoğan called on Palestinians to unite following the talks at Dolmabahçe Palace, on the banks of the Bosporus strait, that Turkish media reports said lasted more than two and a half hours.
“It is vital that Palestinians act with unity in this process. The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity,” Erdoğan said according to a Turkish presidency statement.
Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, is a rival of the Fatah faction that rules the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
As soaring tensions between Iran and Israel stoke fears of a wider regional war, Erdoğan said recent events should not allow Israel to “gain ground and that it is important to act in a way that keeps attention on Gaza.”
Close ties with Haniyeh
With Qatar saying it will reassess its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, Erdoğan sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Doha on Wednesday in a new sign that he wants a role.
“Even if only I, Tayyip Erdoğan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me life, to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people,” the president said Wednesday when he announced Haniyeh’s visit.
Hamas has had an office in Turkey since 2011, when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Erdoğan has maintained links with Haniyeh, who has been a frequent visitor.
Fidan was the past head of Turkish intelligence, at a time when the country provided information and passports to Hamas officials, including Haniyeh, according to Sinan Ciddi, a Turkey specialist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. This has never been confirmed by Turkish authorities, however.
Erdoğan slams Israel
If Qatar withdraws from mediation efforts, Turkey could seek to increase its mediation profile based on its Hamas links.
Fidan on Saturday had talks with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, with both men emphasizing the need to deliver more humanitarian aid to devastated Gaza where the threat of famine looms.
Turkey is one of Gaza’s main humanitarian aid partners, sending 45,000 tons of supplies and medicine to the region.
Israel has said it is preparing for an offensive against the Gazan city of Rafah, and the reported Israeli attack on the Iranian province of Isfahan on Friday morning, following Iran’s direct attack on Israel, has only clouded hopes of a peace breakthrough.
But Erdoğan can only expect a “very limited” role because of his outspoken condemnation of Israel and its actions in Gaza, according to Ciddi.
Last year, the Turkish leader likened the tactics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and called Israel a “terrorist state” because of its offensive against Hamas after the militant group’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
Ciddi said Erdoğan would not be welcome in Israel and at most might be able to pass messages between Palestinian and Israel negotiators.
Israel began pounding Gaza in retaliation for an unprecedented attack by militant group Hamas in the south of Israel on October 7, which claimed around 1,200 lives and led to the taking of some 250 hostages.
As of April 6, 133 hostages remained in captivity in the Gaza Strip, 129 of whom had been abducted on October 7.
The death toll in Gaza, meanwhile, has exceeded 34,400, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.