Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh began talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday as Middle East tensions run high, Turkish media reported.
Erdogan has sought but failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Palestinian conflict that has roiled the region since October 7, with a reported Israeli attack on Iran and Gaza bracing for a new Israeli offensive.
But Erdogan has remained discreet about his meetings with the Hamas head.
“We will keep the agenda between us and Mr Haniyeh,” Erdogan said when questioned by journalists on Friday. Hamas said the war in Gaza would figure in the talks.
Turkish media reported that the meeting at the Dolmabahce palace on the banks of the Bosphorus began shortly after 2:30 pm (1130 GMT).
With Qatar saying it will reassess its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, Erdogan sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Doha on Wednesday in a new sign that he wants a role.
“Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me my life, to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people,” the president said Wednesday when he announced Haniyeh’s looming visit.
Hamas — designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union — has had an office in Turkey since 2011 when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Erdogan has maintained links with Haniyeh, who has been a frequent visitor.
Fidan was a past head of Turkish intelligence and the country provided information and passports to Hamas officials, including Haniyeh, according to Sinan Ciddi, a Turkey specialist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. This has never been confirmed by Turkish authorities, however.
If Qatar withdraws from mediation efforts, Turkey could seek to increase its mediation profile based on its Hamas links.
Fidan on Saturday held talks with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, with both men emphasising the need to deliver more humanitarian aid to devastated Gaza where the threat of famine looms.
Israel has said it is preparing an offensive against the Gaza city of Rafah and the reported Israeli attack on the Iranian province of Isfahan has only clouded hopes of a peace breakthrough.
But Erdogan can only expect a “very limited” role because of his outspoken condemnation of Israel and its actions in Gaza, according to Ciddi.
Last year, the Turkish leader likened the tactics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and called Israel a “terrorist state” because of its offensive against Hamas after the militant group’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
Ciddi said Erdogan would not be welcome in Israel and at most might be able to pass messages between Palestinian and Israel negotiators.
The expert said that Turkey would not have a major influence either over Hamas in deciding the fate of hostages it has held since October 7.
The unprecedented Hamas attacks resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel estimates 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
According to press reports, that have never been denied, Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders were in Istanbul when the attacks were launched. They were requested to quietly leave after a photo showed them celebrating the deadly assault, the report said.
Haniyeh returned to Turkey in January and met Fidan.
The Hamas chief has not met Erdogan since he and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas held talks with the Turkish president in July 2023.
