Turkey’s Hamas Hypocrisy - by Michael Rubin

...If the United States is culpable for the attempted coup in Turkey because an ailing 75-year-old cleric lives isolated in the Poconos, then is Turkey legally responsible for Hamas attacks against Israelis and Americans because Hamas now calls Turkey home? If so, perhaps it’s time for victims of real terrorism to lawyer up and go after Turkish assets. Should they do so, their best witnesses might be Erdoğan and his proxy Binali Yıldırım.

Michael Rubin..
Commentary Magazine..
31 July '16..
Link: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/turkey/turkeys-hamas-hypocrisy/

One of the defining characteristics of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey is its complete obliviousness to the precedent its leadership creates. Five years ago, for example, Erdoğan visited the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and said, “It is a natural and constitutional right for Macedonia to use that name [Macedonia]…. Macedonia’s decision to use its name should be respected.” On this, I happen to agree with Erdoğan, but does Erdoğan extend the same right to Kurds to call their homeland Kurdistan? Precedent dictates he should, but Erdoğan is a hypocrite: Good luck to any Kurd who refers to Diyarbakir as a city in Kurdistan.

Then, of course, there is the issue of Hamas. Erdoğan has openly embraced the Palestinian terrorist group for a decade, feting their most militant leaders in Ankara and pushing back on U.S. and European criticism by saying Hamas deserved legitimacy: It won an election, had popular support, and sought national liberation. He encouraged Turks to bypass the lawful blockade of Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance. Put aside the irony that Gaza surpasses Turkey in key demographic and health indicators. Bring up the plight of the Kurds, though, and the Turkish response is bluster and hypocrisy. If any foreign power sought to deliver even humanitarian supplies direct to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or its civilian political proxies, Turkey would consider it an act of war. At the very least, Erdoğan’s Hamas precedent means that no Western government should consider the PKK to be a terrorist group.

The Turkey-Israel Agreement - by Dr. Mordechai Kedar

An analysis of the reasons for the rapprochement, those who helped it come to pass and why Israel did not include the return of the fallen soldiers' bodies.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar..
israelnationalnews.com..
01 July '16..
Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/19121#.V3YXf9R97wc

My late father, Nahum Kuperschmidt, was a construction site metalworker, a job that was not especially complex, but required absolute honesty, because although no one knows exactly what a metalworker does to keep precipitation from leaking into a building, the first rains are enough to expose any careless work on his part.

He taught me an ironclad rule: When dealing with decent people you don't need a contract, but if the people you are dealing with are not decent, a contract will do you no good. Every time I have to sign a contract I check on the decency of the other party before doing so. And the same rule that works in the private sphere works in the public sphere.

The agreement signed by Israel and Turkey this week is meant to restore relations between the two countries to the level they were before the Mavi Marmara incident in May 2010. When the Justice and Development Party headed by Recep Tayyib Erdogan won the 2002 Turkish elections and blanketed the relations between Turkey and Israel with an Islamist cloud emanating from the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose modern version of political Islam's policy was to deny Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state or to be the homeland of the Jewish people. The Jews were supposed to be under Islamic subjugation as a class of "protected dhimmi" with limited rights at best.

Diplomatic relations with Israel were part of Erdogan's inheritance, but he gradually chilled and downgraded them, while he warmed up to and developed relations with the Islamic entity in Gaza, ruled by Hamas , the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Marmara was Erdogan's contribution towards breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza, and Israel's success in preventing that from happening was a bitter pill for him to swallow.

Under the Islamic party's rule, Turkey had to put up with, at first, a number of heretical vestiges of the secular vision of the "Attaturk" (Mustapha Kamal) regimes that ran the country from the 1920's until the Islamists returned to power. That included several casinos that continued to operate until a few years past 2002, the sale of alcoholic beverages and beaches where the prevalent attire was light years away from Islamic norms.

Instead of empowering Hamas by granting it the ability to sabotage the agreement, Israel decided to leave the humanitarian issues on a bilateral level, between Israel and Hamas.
The flotilla crisis occurred in May 2010 and its aftermath is now in the hands of President Erdogan, who has to decide if he, the Islamist, will reestablish the relations with Israel which he himself caused to be severed. The decision is not an easy one, especially for a person whose egocentricity trumps every objective factor, so that he has to swallow his pride in order to agree to the deal.

Except that the past few years have left him no choice. Despite his political ambitions to live in peace with all the nations surrounding Turkey, he managed to find himself in conflict with every one of them. He is accused of providing the bridge which Jihadists crossed into Syria, destroying that country; he supported ISIS mainly by purchasing raw fuel that the group produced in Syria and Iraq; he shot down a Russian warplane in 2015 and ound himself at odds with Putin; he is up to his neck in a struggle with the Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi Kurds; he is in mess with the Iranians who strongly support Assad, whom he hates with a passion, and he also has to sit by and watch the Iranians take over the Arab areas on the southern border of Turkey, Iraq and Syria, after their takeover of Lebanon by means of Iran's proxy, the Hezbollah.

As soon as Turkey itself became a target for ISIS terror attacks, Erdogan found himself in a war with Islamic fanatics – exactly like Israel. He knows one or two things about Hamas involvement in training, arming and drilling Jihadists in the "Sinai Province of Islamic State" and it is possible that his decision to reach an agreement with Israel will cause a certain chill in his relations with Hamas. Time will tell, especially if Turkey keeps its commitment to prevent Hamas from using Turkey as a base of operations.

In the agreement, Turkey agreed in principle to the continuation of Israel's sea blockade of Gaza, and all Turkish aid to Gaza will arrive through the port of Ashdod after its contents are checked and authorized by Israel. This is a great achievement for Israel - and it is quite possible that Hamas will refuse to accept the aid under these conditions.

Turkey, Israel and the Value of Saying No - by Evelyn Gordon

...Turkey could have gotten these same terms six years ago, but it thought it could force Israel into conceding more. Had Israel’s chattering classes had their way, Ankara would have been right. But all the warnings of dire consequences if Israel refused to capitulate proved false.

Evelyn Gordon..
Commentary Magazine..
27 June '16..
Link: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/turkey-value-saying-no/

The Israel-Turkey reconciliation agreement announced this week is an object lesson in the importance of being willing to walk away from negotiations. For six years, the Israeli chattering classes and the international community urged Israel to simply accept Turkey’s terms, arguing that Ankara wasn’t going to soften its demands and that Israel desperately needed good relations with Turkey, whatever the price. But it turns out neither part of that argument was true: Turkey proved to need Israel far more than Israel needed it, and consequently, it eventually reduced its demands significantly. The current deal is thus much better than what Israel would have gotten had it caved in and signed earlier.

The biggest change is that Turkey capitulated completely on its longstanding demand for an end to the Gaza blockade, which would have badly undermined Israel’s security. Under the current deal, all restrictions meant to prevent Hamas-run Gaza from importing arms and exporting terror remain in place: The naval blockade will continue; imports to Gaza will still enter through Israel and undergo Israeli security checks, and movement restrictions aimed at preventing Gazan terrorists from entering either Israel or the West Bank will remain in force. Instead, Turkey will bolster its self-image as Gaza’s champion by building a power plant, hospital, and desalination facility–all badly needed humanitarian projects that Israel has long wished someone would undertake. It will also be allowed to send unlimited humanitarian aid through Israel’s Ashdod Port–a meaningless concession since Israel never restricted humanitarian aid shipments.

Another important change relates to Hamas operations in Turkey, where Hamas’s West Bank command–responsible for planning anti-Israel attacks from the West Bank–has long been headquartered. Ankara insisted for years that the reconciliation deal should include no provisions affecting its relations with Hamas. But the current deal requires it to end all Hamas military activity on its territory.

This falls short of Israel’s demand that it expel Hamas entirely; the Islamist organization will still be able to engage in diplomacy and fund-raising in Turkey. But if Israel refused to have relations with any country that let terrorist groups engage in diplomacy and fund-raising on its territory, it would also have to sever ties with the European Union, where the political wing of Hezbollah–a far more dangerous group than Hamas–is allowed to operate freely in all but a handful of countries. In other words, this is an acceptable compromise that genuinely improves the existing situation.

The Turks' Unrequited Love for Palestinians - by Burak Bekdil

...That was "From Palestine with Love" -- to Turkey. Without caring much about whether the Palestinians love the Turks, the Turks keep on loving to love the Palestinians. Political Islam has its many prerequisites. If one of them is unconditionally to hate Israel and the Jews; the other is an unconditional devotion to the "Palestinian cause." Turkey's leaders successfully fulfill both prerequisites.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
(pictured left with Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas
and right with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal)
now finds his affection and emotional
support for the Palestinian cause unrequited.

Burak Bekdil..
Gatestone Institute..
04 February '16..

Although it came as no surprise, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in his weekly parliamentary group speech last December, spoke like a Palestinian politician, not a Turkish one:

"The most oppressed people of the 20th and 21st centuries is the Palestinian people ... Our support will continue until Jerusalem becomes the capital of independent Palestine ... No one should doubt our devotion to the Palestinian cause ... We won't forget Palestine, Gaza, Jerusalem, not even in our dreams ... We do politics for this holy way."

He then narrated an anecdote:

"We were in the front rows when three months ago the Palestinian flag was hoisted at the United Nations. In November 2012, I was the only representative, as [then] foreign minister, from the Islamic world when Palestine was given non-member status at the United Nations general assembly. I sat with [Palestinian leader] Mahmoud Abbas when the Palestinian flag was hoisted recently and we hugged ... That's why I felt honored on behalf of my nation to witness the hoisting of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations. Inshallah [God willing] that flag will one day be waved in Jerusalem ... Whatever is wrong for Palestine is wrong for us too."

What generous Turkish affection for the Palestinian flag and leader! But both history and present times would forcefully remind one that the Turks' love affair for the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular, is quite unrequited.

First, the flag. The colors of the Palestinian flag (red, white, green and black) are pan-Arab colors. The Palestinian flag is almost identical to that of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. It is also very similar to the flags of Jordan and Western Sahara. Before being the Palestinian flag, it was the flag of the short-lived Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan. All of these flags draw their inspiration from the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkey (1916-1918).

In short, the flag the Turkish prime minister proudly witnessed while being hoisted at the UN is an inspiration of the flag used by the Arab Palestinian nationalists in the first half of the 20th century, which was the flag of the 1916 Arab Revolt against Davutoglu's beloved Ottoman Empire. The Arabs, including Palestinians, joined the Allies to fight the Turks during the war.

Surprise! Hamas in Turkey - "Humanitarian Activity"

...The scope of Hamas's activity through Turkish territory is an open secret. Hamas and Turkish officials claim the nature of that activity is humanitarian. Maybe. But in the real world, kidnapping Israeli teenagers and hitting Israeli cities with rockets might actually be considered a "humanitarian activity" by most Islamists, whether Palestinian or Turkish.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal addresses the
AKP regional party congress in Konya, Turkey,
on December 27, 2014.

Burak Bekdil..
Gatestone Institute..
06 March '15..

In 2012, Abdullah Gul, then President of Turkey, when asked by reporters whether Hamas would open an office in Istanbul, said: "Contacts [with Hamas] continue. Time will tell where the dimension of our cooperation will lead us to."

Gul is a moderate Islamist compared to his successor as President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Guess what time told.

Eight years after the 2006 visit to Turkey of the head of Hamas's political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, the Islamist organization -- deemed a terror group by Egypt, the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Japan -- was coordinating its efforts in the West Bank with logistical support from a command center in Istanbul -- a fact that annoyed even the Palestinian Authority (PA).

In 2014, Turkey was also host to Salah al-Arouri, a Hamas commander whom the PA accuses of planning multiple attacks against Israeli targets.

The newspaper Israel Hayom calls Arouri "an infamous arch-terrorist believed to be responsible for dozens of attacks against Israelis." According to the Israeli media, the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) has evidence that the deadly attacks against Israelis were planned at the Hamas headquarters in Istanbul. In November, the Shin Bet reported the arrest in the West Bank of members of a cell preparing to attack Israeli targets, who had received military training abroad under the leadership of Hamas in Turkey.

Last August, speaking at the World Conference of Islamic Sages in Turkey, Arouri admitted that Hamas was behind the "heroic action carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades, which captured three settlers in Hebron." The three teenage boys were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas operatives, an incident that triggered the spiral of violence that led to the vicious 50-day war in Gaza.

Is a Certain NATO Member Hosting Hamas Training Camps?

...The idea that Turkey—a NATO member—would allow military training camps on its soil for a group designated by the United States and much the rest of the West as a terrorist organization is not something that can be diplomatically cast aside. Just as states—even allied states—are designated as deficient when it comes to combating human trafficking or money laundering on the logic that they work to rectify their status, so too it is time to designate Turkey a state sponsor of terrorism with whatever sanctions incumbent levied until such a time as Turkey rectifies its behavior.

Michael Rubin..
Commentary Magazine..
27 February '15..

I was on the set of a Turkish news talk show—maybe SkyTürk or CNNTürk—in Istanbul back in 2006 when news broke that the Turkish government would welcome the leader of Hamas in Turkey. Hamas had won Palestinian elections a few weeks previous, but Turkey’s decision to host the unrepentant terrorist group took both Turks and the West by surprise.

After all, in the wake of the Palestinian elections, the European Union, the United States, and other countries had demanded that Hamas first acquiesce to the basis of the Oslo Accords—that is foreswearing terrorism and recognizing Israel—before it would be a welcome player in the international community. This was good diplomacy, after all, because the precondition of the Palestinian Authority’s existence was the Palestinian abandonment of terror and recognition of Israel. It was not an optional aspect to the agreement. Should the Palestinian Authority cease respecting that aspect of the agreement, Israel would be justified legally in returning to the status quo ante.

The reason for the surprise at Turkish actions was that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had personally promised German Chancellor Angela Merkel just days before that Turkey would not invite the Hamas leader. Erdoğan thought he would be too clever by half, however, and explained that the invitation came not at the behest of Turkey but rather by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) which dominated the Turkish government.

Amazing! How Turkey made Hamas mainstream

...“Everybody can see how much of a difference there is between Hamas’ previous line and its current stance. The country that has made the biggest contribution to this is Turkey,” Mr. Çavuşoğlu said. Indeed, one must either be blind, dumb or a Zionist not to see the difference.

Burak Bekdil..
hurriyetdailynews.com
21 January '15..

A news story in this newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu as claiming that Turkey’s relationship with Hamas had helped make the militant Palestinian group “mainstream.”

“Everybody can see how much of a difference there is between Hamas’ previous line and its current stance. The country that has made the biggest contribution to this is Turkey,” Mr. Çavuşoğlu said.

Indeed, one must either be blind, dumb or a Zionist not to see the difference.

From Hamas’ old charter, back in the militant times of 1987:

- “Hence our permanent state of preparedness and our readiness to sacrifice our souls and dearest [possessions]."

- “Our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world."

- “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them)."

- “The slogan: Allah is the goal, the Prophet the model, the Quran the Constitution, Jihad the path. Death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of wishes."

- “A woman may fight the enemy even without her husband’s authorization, and a slave without his master’s permission."

- “[Peace] initiatives ... to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement ... There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad."

- “We must spread the spirit of Jihad among the [Islamic] Ummah, clash with the enemies and join the ranks of the Jihad fighters..."

- “I swear by the holder of Muhammad’s soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed..."

- “Jihad means not only carrying arms and denigrating the enemies. Uttering positive words, writing good articles and useful books, support and solidarity and assistance, all that is Jihad too..."

- “Whoever mobilizes a fighter for the sake of Allah is himself a fighter..."

- “Hamas is a humane movement that cares for human rights ... It is only possible for the members of the three religions to coexist in safety under the shadow of Islam ... Safety and security can only prevail under the shadow of Islam...”

Now, the following are from Hamas' charter since it has gone mainstream:

Clothing, feeding and harboring terrorists? Not what Americans used to think it meant

...QUESTION: -- they’re hosting and seem to be willing and happy to host the leader of a group that you deem a foreign terrorist organization. So is Hamas somehow less bad than other – other groups that are on the FTO list?

Head of the terrorist organization, Hamas,
Khaled Mashaal, on one of several visits
to Turkey, with the Turkish leader Erdogan
[Image Source]

Arnold/Frimet Roth..
This Ongoing War..
10 January '15..

For Americans, and for those of us hoping to see the US show some spine in the face of terrorism's expanding frontiers, this depressing exchange below from Thursday's Daily Press Briefing at the State Department in Washington DC is worth filing away and remembering. ["Ms. Psaki" refers to the spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Jennifer Psaki, who served previously as spokesperson for President Barack Obama. "Matt", who asks the questions, is probably Matt Lee who covers the State Department for Associated Press.]

QUESTION: -- Turkey, the Turkish foreign minister has said that the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, is welcome in Turkey anytime he wants to – any time he wants to go. Do you have any thoughts about that, given the fact that he is --

MS. PSAKI: I spoke to this a little bit yesterday, but it wasn’t asked in the exact same way. Our position on Hamas has not changed. Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization that continues to engage in terrorist activity and demonstrate its intentions during the summer’s conflict in – with Israel. We continue to raise our concerns about the relationship between Hamas and Turkey with senior Turkish officials, including after learning of Meshaal’s recent visit there. And we have urged the Government of Turkey to press Hamas to reduce tensions and prevent violence.

QUESTION: Well, I mean, is there any – I mean, I don’t get it. This guy is the leader of a terrorist organization. If Ayman Zawahiri showed up in Turkey, would you have a similar muted response? I mean --

MS. PSAKI: I don’t think that’s a muted response. Obviously, we look at each situation case by case.

QUESTION: Well, this is a NATO ally and they seem to be --

MS. PSAKI: Yes.

QUESTION: -- they’re hosting and seem to be willing and happy to host the leader of a group that you deem a foreign terrorist organization. So is Hamas somehow less bad than other – other groups that are on the FTO list?

(Continue)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work as well as a big vote to follow our good friend Kay Wilson on Twitter, 
.

Why Hamas Feels So at Home in Turkey - A Marriage Made in Heaven

...Thirty-four years ago, the people of Konya had to take to the streets to shout "Death to the Jew," wave Palestinian flags and chant all possible Quranic slogans -- and clash with the military for doing it. Today, they enjoy the Islamist ritual at the regional congress of the country's ruling party, with "a son of their city" running the show from the seat of the prime minister. Thirty-four years ago, their hearts and minds were united with their Palestinian brothers, but a public "Jerusalem meeting" could earn them a jail sentence. Today, failing to stand by the "Palestinian cause" could earn someone a jail sentence, if not a good public beating. Sadly, this is how democracy has evolved in Turkey.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was given a hero's
welcome by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu last month.

Burak Bekdil..
MEF/The Gatestone Institute..
01 January '15..


In the heat of August 1980, Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the now-defunct National Salvation Party and founding father of political Islam in Turkey, published two articles, "Jerusalem and Zionism," and "Anarchy and Zionism." In the latter, he likened Zionism to an "octopus with numberless arms." Some of those arms were "communism, capitalism, freemasonry and racism."

Before that, in much of the 1970s, Turkey had been captured by political violence. It had killed on average a dozen people each day in clashes mainly between ultra left- and ultra right-wing militants.

The sole source of anarchy and chaos in Turkey, Erbakan then wrote, was Zionism.

Shortly after the publication of Erbakan's articles, on Sept. 6, 1980, his party organized the infamous "Jerusalem meeting" in the central Anatolian city of Konya, an Islamist stronghold to this day. Thousands, including children, shouted "Death to the Jew" and marched through the city. Six days after the demonstration, the military staged a coup d'état. The generals not only wanted to crush warring extremists, but also religious fundamentalists.

Little has changed in Konya's political demographics since the 1980 coup. It still boasts being the center of Turkish political Islam even though, ironically, the city's name is a Turkish distortion of its original medieval Greek name "Ikonion." This August, three-quarters of residents of Konya voted for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became the president of the country, with 51.5% of the nationwide vote. Like most of Turkey's cabinet ministers and ruling MPs, Erdogan comes from the ranks of Erbakan's school of political Islam.

But these days Konya is even more loudly proud of one of "its own sons." Former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Erdogan's choice, was elected party leader and prime minister this summer.

Last weekend, Davutoglu gathered a regional party congress in his native Konya, where enthusiastic locals and party loyalists called him "a true grandson of the Ottomans."

The party congress looked like any other congress of the ruling Justice and Development party [AKP]: a fawning crowd, cheering, singing and shouting pro-Davutoglu (and pro-Erdogan) slogans, and waving Turkish and Palestinian flags. But there was more.

Davutoglu's guest of honor at the party congress in Konya was Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas's political bureau and the darling of Messrs Erdogan and Davutoglu -- a feeling that is apparently not unrequited.

Erdogan's Hospitality and Passionate Love Affair For Arab Terrorism

...Yes, President Erdogan is a pragmatic politician. But not always. Especially when his pragmatic-self meets with his emotional-self: That's heaven! Still wondering about his passionate love affair with Hamas? Read Topcu's excerpts once again. Then open up Hamas's charter, read the caricature-like text and compare its lines with the Turkish philosopher's. Now you can have a better reading of Erdogan's mind.

Burak Bekdil..
Gatestone Institute..
06 December '14..

In 2004, Turkish President (then Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan labelled Israel "a terrorist state." Two years later, he hosted Khaled Mashaal, Hamas's leader. Alluding to Turkey's experience with Islamist parties, including his own, coming to power through elections, Erdogan said: "The choice of the people (at the ballot box) should be respected." Erdogan, citing Hamas's election victory in Gaza, apparently wanted to legitimize Hamas and terrorism.

However, he deliberately overlooked a significant difference between Hamas and Turkey's Islamist parties: Hamas specifically advocates violence, while Turkish parties operate within democratic politics.

Eight years after Mashaal's visit to Turkey, Hamas is coordinating its efforts in the West Bank with logistical support from a command center in Istanbul -- a fact that apparently annoys even the Palestinian Authority [PA], Hamas's "governing partner" in the Palestinian territories.

Turkey is also host to Salah al-Aruri, a Hamas commander whom the PA accuses of planning multiple attacks against Israeli targets.

According to the Israeli media, the Shin Bet has evidence that the deadly attacks against Israelis were planned at the Hamas headquarters in Istanbul. Turkish diplomats deny the claims, unconvincingly. Israel has reportedly requested NATO and the American government to take steps against Turkey's support for a terrorist organization.

It was, in fact, Aruri who, on Aug. 20, speaking at the World Conference of Islamic Sages in Turkey, admitted that Hamas had instigated the "heroic action carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades [the military wing of Hamas], which captured three settlers in Hebron." The three teenage boys were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas operatives, an incident that triggered the spiral of violence that led to the vicious 50-day war in Gaza this summer.

Most Western observers tend to explain Erdogan's love affair with Hamas with realpolitik and pragmatism – that Turkey has sought regional clout among Arab nations by setting out to become the powerful defender of the "Palestinian cause." This author thinks that there is also "a story of indoctrination" behind the love affair.

Could it be? Is Turkey providing cover for Hamas terror?

...Tonight there are reports in many news channels [for instance, "Isis launches attack on Kobani from inside Turkey for first time", The Guardian, November 29, 2014] that jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror forces have launched an attack on the beleagured border town of Kobane, Syria, from inside Turkish territory. Turkey is officially and energetically [here] denying that too.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of
Turkey hosts Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh
of Hamas in his Ankara bureau, June 18, 2013 
[Image Source: Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office]

Frimet/Arnold Roth..
This Ongoing War..
29 November '14..

Since the disclosures made in Israel two days ago about Turkey's involvement in a major Hamas terrorism initiative directed at killing yet more Jews and sowing ever-greater chaos in Jerusalem, we have been paying extra attention to what is making news in Turkey.

(For the background, see this post: "27-Nov-14: Hamas terrorist ring is busted; Israel says the handlers operate from Turkey; Qatar is involved")

Let's start with the Turkish 'denials' of involvement in hosting, tolerating or otherwise co-operating with the terrorists of Hamas. Ynet yesterday published a not-so-comprehensive refutation of the allegations:

Turkey denies harboring Hamas terror command | Ynet, November 28, 2014 | Itamar Eichner | Turkey denied on Friday the claim that Hamas planned terrorist attacks from headquarters in Istanbul. The Shin Bet made the accusation on Thursday, setting off a diplomatic face-off between Israel and Turkey. Turkish sources argued that the Shin Bet's announcement was meant to demonize Turkey and sabotage attempts to mend the countries' diplomatic ties. Israel requested NATO and the American government to take steps against Turkey in response. "It's illogical for a NATO member to host a terrorist organization that trains and plans terror attacks on its soil," said the Israeli statement. Turkish diplomats were enraged by Israel's allegations, calling them "lies and deception... There are elements in Israel who are trying to torpedo the attempts to smooth things out between the two countries and turn a new leaf. They are telling lies, as though Hamas operates in Turkey with the government's knowledge. Turkey has a dialogue with Hamas, but will absolutely not allow any terror organization to operate on its soil."

Had Ynet quoted Turkish names or Turkish titles, the broad, but entirely non-specific, Turkish statements might have had some persuasive value. But they did not. It's simply "Turkey denied" and "diplomats said". So we went looking elsewhere.

So far, the only article we have found (Turkish, but published in English) is from the website of the Turkish newspaper, Daily Sabah. It published the denials of Turkish involvement with the busted Hamas gang ["Top Hamas Official Denies Israel's Claims of Hamas Fighters Trained in Turkey", November 2, 2014], by interviewing a person it oddly sees as a credible source: Osama Hamdan, the man who runs Hamas operations in Lebanon. The 'unimpeachable' Hamdan clears things up by saying (direct quote):

(Continue)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work as well as a big vote to follow our good friend Kay Wilson on Twitter, 
.

Turkey's Warm Love Affair with Hamas

...But it was the Islamists who, in the 2000s, made the biggest gains from the concept. Since 2002, when they came to power, they have reaped enormous political gains from the "Palestine-fetish," to which they also love to be ideologically attached. For the Turks, it has been like abusing alcohol and wanting to have a healthier life. It still is.

Burak Bekdil..
Gatestone Institute..
19 October '14..

"The Palestinian cause" is a unique charm that brings together Turks from different ideologies. Turkish Islamists view it as an indispensable part of "jihad;" the conservatives feel attached to it because it has a religious connotation; for the leftists it is part of an "anti-imperialist" struggle; the nationalists embrace it just because most Turks embrace it. In the 1970s, when a dozen Turks a day on average were killed in street violence, the "Palestinian cause" was the only issue that otherwise warring fractions of the Turkish left, right and Islamists could agree on.

But it was the Islamists who, in the 2000s, made the biggest gains from the concept. Since 2002, when they came to power, they have reaped enormous political gains from the "Palestine-fetish," to which they also love to be ideologically attached. For the Turks, it has been like abusing alcohol and wanting to have a healthier life. It still is.

Turkey's leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are probably the loudest supporters of the Palestinian cause in world politics today. Only one flag, other than the Turkish, is sported at their party's election rallies: that of "Palestine." It was because of the "Palestinian case" that Erdogan and Davutoglu premeditatedly chose to move from friendly relations with Israel to a "cold war." Votes and ideological satisfaction followed.

But the Turkish rhetoric on "solidarity with our Palestinian brothers" often seems askew to how solidarity should be.

In 2012, the Turks' "Palestinian brothers" sounded an alarm when they found out that they were incapable of paying salaries to 160,000 government employees on time. The shortfall was considered the biggest crisis in Palestinian history, and the authorities said they heavily relied on the availability of Arab and international aid.

Davutoglu, then foreign minister, said of the "Mavi Marmara" incident -- the raid by the Israeli Defense Forces on the Turkish flotilla that killed 10 pro-Palestine activists who wanted to "break the naval siege of Gaza" -- that it was "Turkey's 9/11." He further said that more Turkish-led flotillas would be on their way to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, that Turkish military planes and ships would protect these "aid vessels," and that "Israel would eventually be entirely isolated."

That was when Erdogan and Davutoglu often boasted that "We are the world's 17th biggest economy and we are running fast to become one of the top 10." Yet, at an international donors' conference for Gaza in March 2009, the Turkish pledges stood at a mere $93 million. That pledge accounted for only 2.1% of all international pledges made there, which totaled $4.257 billion.

As of 2012, of all 216 approved projects for Gaza, 180 were run by international aid organizations, three by the World Bank, three by the Red Crescent, 13 by Germany, two by France, and one by each of Belgium, Egypt, Holland and Sweden. Turkish projects? Zero. In 2010, the Turks purchased $270,000 worth of Palestinian goods – 0.00000033 percent of the Turkish economy.

Excellent Question. Who Exactly Does Turkey Support?

...Will Erdogan downgrade Turkey's diplomatic ties with the U.S. and five Muslim nations because their militaries killed a Turkish citizen outside of Turkish territory? No. Probably because, in the pragmatic Islamist thinking, one does not properly qualify as a "martyr" if he gets killed by an army (or armies) other than Israel's.

Burak Bekdil..
Gatestone Institute..
07 October '14..

Last week, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had to zigzag between the truth that accidentally spilled out of him and Washington's pragmatism. In a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Biden said: "[Turkish] President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, he is an old friend, said you were right, we let too many people through, now we are trying to seal the border."

The "people," however, whom Erdogan said Ankara had "let through" were the jihadists whom Turkey had supported with arms and money, and who have now become an international nightmare.

In other words, the U.S. vice president was publicly saying that the Turkish president had confessed to supporting terrorists.

Then Erdogan threatened: "If he [Biden] really said that, he would become history for me." Finally, a White House statement announced: "The vice president apologized for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied and facilitated the growth of ISIL or other extremists in Syria."

Erdogan has never hidden that he is ideologically a next of kin to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Hamas's overseas command center happens to be based in Turkey. Erdogan has been Hamas's staunchest (non-Hamas) cheerleader in the last decade, and the Brotherhood's key regional ally. Press reports say that Turkey has recently welcomed in the Brotherhood's top brass, who were expelled on Sept. 13 from their five-million-star hotels in Qatar. Ankara has not denied that it is offering a safe haven to the leaders of the Islamist organization.

In short, to finish off the jihadists who have captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, Washington will now work with the man who until recently funded and reinforced these same jihadists (and their various offspring) and is proud of his love affairs with Hamas and the Brotherhood. More ironically, a U.S.-led coalition of nations including Arab states recently killed one of Erdogan's heroes when the coalition forces struck an ISIS camp in Syria.

Will the Homeless Find a Home in Turkey?

Michael Rubin..
Commentary Magazine..
09 October '13..

Hamas is a terrorist group in search of a home. Uprooted by the Syrian civil war, and shaken by the Egyptian coup, the Hamas leadership has taken temporary shelter in Qatar, but that tiny emirate is showing every sign that they want the Islamist radicals to move on. So where would a radical Islamist terrorist group dedicated to the eradication of the State of Israel and whose charter endorses the crudest anti-Semitism turn? Perhaps to Turkey, America’s NATO ally and a country whose leader President Obama identified as one of his top personal foreign friends. According to Hürriyet Daily News:

Rubin - Turkey to Hamas: Next Year in Jerusalem

Michael Rubin..
Commentary/Contentions..
04 January '12..




No, it’s not Passover yet. That’s the promise, however, from Ömer Çelik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party, the Justice and Development Party, which like Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Çelik quipped, “We hope we can freely sit and chat in Jerusalem soon.” That would be like Benjamin Netanyahu telling Iraqi Kurdish leader Masud Barzani that perhaps, God willing, the two could sit down in Diyarbakir, the capital of a free Kurdistan.

When the deputy head of Turkey’s ruling party meets with a terrorist leader to encourage territorial conquest, perhaps it’s time for Israel to play hardball.

Link: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/01/04/turkey-hamas-next-year-in-jerusalem/

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Tobin - Do You Believe in the “New” Hamas?

Jonathan S. Tobin
Commentary/Contentions
21 December '11

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/21/new-hamas-terror/#more-778605

Fighting long-term wars against totalitarians and terrorists is always a difficult task for Western societies because such conflicts require the sort of resolution that is always bound to flag over time. There is always the tendency, especially among our intellectuals, to begin to reinterpret our enemies and to project our own values and interests onto their very different perspectives. That was true during the long twilight struggle against communism and the Soviet Union, and it is just as true during what may prove to be an equally lengthy struggle against Islamism. It is in this context that we should view the flurry of reports about the possibility of the Hamas terrorist movement changing its character and adopting non-violence and pursuing peace.

That’s the conceit behind an article in The National Interest titled “A new Hamas in the Making?” which cites no less an authority than Jane’s military publications that the Islamist group is making a “strategic” shift in strategy which aims at repositioning Gaza’s overlords as legitimate Arab players on the stage of Middle East diplomacy. But, as Jonathan Schanzer points out in a far more valuable article in The Weekly Standard, this may have more to do with the group’s need to adapt themselves to the dictates of their funders than any change in philosophy. Though some of the sound bites coming out of Gaza may seem to promise moderation or even non-violence, the expectation that Hamas is prepared to live in peace with Israel or drop the Jew-hatred that is at the core of its worldview is the product of a campaign of deception that ought not to be taken at face value.

It Is About the United States

JINSA
Report #: 995
08 June '10

Turkey and Honduras, in different ways, highlight the lack of effective leadership the United States currently is able to exercise in the world.

Turkey: Turkish government support for the IHH ship in the Gaza flotilla is now well understood and the anti-Semitic ravings of both official Turks and the Turkish media have made Turkey's intention to split from Israel clear.

But it is a mistake to think this is only about Israel. Support for the flotilla was only the latest in a series of Turkish decisions designed to distance itself from the United States and move toward closer political relations with countries adversarial to us. Immediately after the bloody 2007 Hamas coup against Fatah in Gaza, the United States and the European Union reiterated that Hamas was a terrorist organization to be shunned. Instead, Turkey's prime minister invited Hamas leadership to Ankara. The Hamas-Turkey relationship has grown as the Turkey-Palestinian Authority relationship, the relationship supported by the United States and the EU, has declined. Rapprochement with Russia, Syria and Iran, and the Iran-Brazil-Turkey enriched uranium deal are more of the same.

After his meeting with Secretary of State Clinton, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters, "Citizens of member states were attacked by a country that is not a member of NATO. I think you can make some conclusions out of this statement." The implication was that Turkey would ask NATO for some satisfaction-or some slap at Israel.

Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Minister.

Turkey, as a member of NATO, is privy to intelligence information having to do with terrorism and with Iran. If Turkey finds its best friends to be Iran, Hamas, Syria and Brazil (look for Venezuela in the future) the security of that information (and Western technology in weapons in Turkey's arsenal) is suspect. The United States should seriously consider suspending military cooperation with Turkey as a prelude to removing it from the organization.

(Read full report)

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