Turkey's prime minister on Monday called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to push for early elections "very negative," especially since efforts to resolve the Palestinian political crisis had taken some positive steps. Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized many in the international community for refusing to respect "the will of the Palestinian people" following Hamas' victory in January parliamentary elections and for failing to follow through with economic help. "The end results of those elections were not taken into consideration immediately after the elections took place," he told a news conference. "That has been, in my opinion, the most important mistake that was made in Palestine."