January 16, 2023

The alliance between Ankara and Hamas is alive and kicking

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by Uzay Bulut, Research Fellow

Turkey remains the main lifeline for the Palestinian terrorist organization.

President Isaac Herzog last week accepted the credentials of Ankara’s new ambassador to Israel, Şakir Özkan Torunlar.

The Turkish diplomat, who served as consul general in Jerusalem (and “ambassador” to the Palestinian Authority) between 2010 and 2013, assumed the position four years after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan withdrew Turkey’s ambassador from Israel and ousted Jerusalem’s top envoy amid fighting between the IDF and Palestinians along the Gaza border.

On Dec. 27, Erdoğan received the credentials of Ambassador Irit Lillian of Israel at the presidential complex in Ankara.

Following over a decade of tension between the two countries, a further attempt at rapprochement is underway. Yet there is a huge elephant in the room: Since January 2013, Hamas terrorists have operated freely in Turkey.

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