Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, is closely following reports about rapprochement between
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and Israel and is waiting for an official word from Ankara on the issue.
On Saturday, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal met in Istanbul with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
. The Turkish news agency Anadolu news agency said that Mashaal briefed Erdogan on the latest political developments in the region during the 60-minute meeting.
This was the first meeting between the two since recent reports about an agreement between Turkey and Israel to restore their normal ties.
The agency did not say whether the two also discussed the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel.
In an interview over the weekend, Hamas leader Mahmoud
Warty Noseal-Zahhar
...a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership. Since 2006, Warty Nose has served as foreign minister in the government of Ismail Haniyeh. He is considered one of the more stubborn hard-liners and has no objection to kissing the Persian foot to keep the money flowing. Warty Nose's son, a member of the Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli raid in early 2008. Another one was disposed of when the IDF bombed his house in 2003...refused to comment on the reports, including the possibility that Turkey was planning to impose restrictions on Hamas activities in the country.
"Until now, the picture remains unclear," Zahar said. "We will announce our position once we see an official Turkish announcement."
Zahar claimed that the reports were thus far unverified and emanated from anonymous sources. "Therefore, we can't relate to these reports," he explained.
The Hamas leader noted that Israel and Turkey have maintained ties for a long period of time. He said these ties were never cut off in spite of the tensions between the two countries in recent years.
Turkey has also maintained close relations with Hamas over the past few years.
Turkey also plays host to some top Hamas operatives, including Salah Al-Arouri, one of the founders of the movement's armed wing, Ezaddin Al-Qassam.
Another senior Hamas official, Ahmed Yusef, predicted that the rapprochement between Israel and Turkey would not have a negative impact on his movement.
"Policies among countries are based on interests," Yusef said. "The normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel will not change Ankara's position towards Hamas."
The Hamas-affiliated website Al-Resalah quoted Turkish officials as saying that their country would not abandon its demand to lift the blockade on the Gazoo Strip despite the rapprochement with Israel.
The officials claimed that Turkey was conditioning its renewed ties with Israel on two conditions: lifting the blockade on the Gazoo Strip and payment of compensation for the families of the Turkish nationals who were killed aboard the flotilla aid ship, Marmara.
| The second was agreed to long ago. The first is a non-starter. Then there's this, from The Times of Israel, which must have given the conversation between the two local Muslim Brotherhood leaders extra piquancy: |
Twenty-two Israelis have been killed and 252 maimed, according to Foreign Ministry data, as of December 14, while around 100 Paleostinians have been killed, most of them in the course of their attacks, and more than 1,000 maimed. Many of the Paleostinian maimed were hurt during festivities with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, including hundreds who suffered from inhaling tear gas and other minor injuries from riot dispersal measures.