Political symbolism: Turkey hosts Hamas leaders as if Hamas is a state

Turkey’s president hosted Hamas leaders over the weekend in highly symbolic and important meetings that reflect the terror group’s increased influence and power in the region after the October 7 attack on Israel. In the wake of the Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 250, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Hamas has found that it has more clout in Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, Ankara, Doha, and other places. Instead of being isolated after its historic crimes against humanity, Hamas has been embraced.

Hamas leaders traveled to Ankara amid a new phase of support for the group in the region, which could have major ramifications for the Gaza conflict.

A symbol of this embrace was seen in Istanbul on April 20. Hamas leaders were seated in chairs opposite Turkey’s top officials in a red carpet-style reception with the Turkish leader. Ankara was proud of this meeting, distributing a handout and posting about it. The Turkish media had wall-to-wall coverage.

The handout about the meeting shows the Hamas leadership facing its Turkish counterparts, with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the center. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was hosted at the Dolmabahce Presidential Working Office in Istanbul.

Ankara has paid lip service to supporting Palestinian unity, but it does not roll out the red carpet like this one for the Palestinian Authority. Instead, it sidelines the PA and its president, Mahmoud Abbas. “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,” Turkey’s leader said. However, Ankara could have hosted both Hamas and the PA leadership.

It has chosen to boost Hamas with this meeting, which is highly symbolic. The meeting and others like it in Moscow, Tehran, and Doha have shown that Hamas has received increased support and influence as a result of massacring 1,000 people. No other group in history has massacred 1,000 people, many of them civilians, taken 250 hostages, and then received so many high-level meetings in such a short period of time, including by two US allies in the region.

Doha, a major non-NATO ally of the US, regularly hosts Hamas, while Turkey is a NATO ally. Therefore, Hamas stands out in history as a group that massacred hundreds of civilians while receiving support from Western allies. It is still holding 133 hostages.

Hamas reportedly compares its attack to Turkish war of Independence

During Saturday’s meeting with Hamas, the Turkish leader compared the group’s terror attacks on Israel to Turkey’s war of independence, Turkey’s Daily Sabah said. “We are well aware of the cost of saying this but the world must know the truth,” Erdogan said. The report also noted that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently met with Haniyeh in Doha as well as with his Iranian counterpart on April 19. Turkey and Iran often coordinate in the region. Both support Hamas and oppose the US presence in Syria.

Turkey’s media includes wall-to-wall coverage of Gaza and numerous articles bashing Israel, demonstrating clear message discipline amid the Hamas meetings. For instance, Turkey’s foreign ministry also slammed Israel over the weekend for “massacring 35,000 Palestinians.” According to the foreign ministry spokesman in Ankara, “It is the Israeli authorities who should be ashamed. They have massacred nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.”

Turkey claims that the conflict in Gaza is the main reason for instability in the region and has warned of spillovers from the war. Hamas started the war, and it is likely that countries that back Hamas, such as Turkey, could have prevented October 7 by telling Hamas to moderate itself. Nonetheless, Turkey’s message is to blame Israel for a conflict that Hamas started.

Ankara has also said that it wants to “bring the massacre in Gaza to an end,” according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Oncu Keceli.

The messaging from Ankara during the Hamas visit was intended to increase public support for Hamas more than six months after the war. This is likely coordinated with Iran. Turkey has also spoken to Egypt and other countries in recent days, saying that it wants to boost aid to Gaza. Yeni Safak, the right-wing populist newspaper in Turkey, also ran an article about Hamas this week, calling for increased tensions in the West Bank. This was in response to a multi-day raid in Tulkarm by Israeli forces. Clearly, Hamas wants to inflame the West Bank. Ankara may view this as being in its interests.

AT THE same time, the new Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is pushing for a flotilla to set sail from Turkey, heading to Gaza. Supporters include the Turkish NGO Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which played a role in the last flotilla in 2010. Another half-dozen NGOs are listed as part of the new flotilla initiative. Some reports said it may set sail as soon as today, the eve of Passover, a symbolic date. Last Passover, Hezbollah enabled terrorist groups in Lebanon to fire rockets at northern Israel, near the community of Shlomi.

The high-level Hamas delegation to Turkey was not the first time Ankara hosted the terrorist organization. In 2019-2020, Turkey increased its number of high-level public visits by Hamas. This was during the Trump administration and in the wake of the US Embassy move to Jerusalem. However, between 2021 and 2022, there was apparent reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. Some experts suggested Israel should reduce its burgeoning ties with Greece and Cyprus and redirect more trade to Turkey so that Israel would be dependent on Ankara for energy needs and other trade.

It was clear at the time that Ankara was trying to make Israel dependent so that when Hamas was operationalized to attack, and there was a war in Gaza, Turkey would have had more leverage over Israel. Turkey and Qatar are close allies, and Doha hosts Hamas. Ankara and Doha both have close ties with Tehran. This concept of leverage over Israel in 2021-2022 was clearly an initiative that led Israel to think that funding flowing to Hamas would deter Hamas from further attacks. In 2023, this all came together to produce a sense of security that led to October 7.

Hamas’s visit to Turkey on April 20 is the culmination of this process, which appears to be entering a new phase. It remains to be seen if Ankara’s backing of Hamas will lead to increased tensions in the West Bank and new initiatives in the region.