Hamas leaves Syria, Cut-off by Iran, Finds refuge and money in Turkey

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President Abdullah Gül said Turkey would allow Hamas to open a bureau in his country and possibly move its headquarters there, according to several Turkish newspapers. Mashaal, who barely escaped a botched Israeli assassination attempt in Amman in 1997, is close to the Turkish leadership and a frequent visitor.

Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh made his first visit to Turkey last month, and, according to media reports, left with a promise of $300 million in aid to make up for the cutoff of aid from Iran, which was miffed that Hamas wasn’t sufficiently supportive of Assad. Foreign Ministry officials in Ankara said there would be “no cash,” only “humanitarian” assistance.

Gül said, “Turkey is one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian cause. And Hamas is an important political formation which participated and succeeded in elections.” While Turkey strongly supports Palestinian unity, it clearly favors the Islamist Hamas over the secular nationalist Fatah led by Mahmoud Abbas, which supports peace and co-existence with Israel.

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