Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday condemned the “perfidious assassination” in Tehran of his close ally and “brother” Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas.
“May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, fallen in martyrdom after this odious attack,” Erdogan wrote on the X social media platform, denouncing “Zionist barbarity”.
“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gazan resistance and our Palestinian brothers’ just fight, and to intimidate Palestinians,” Erdogan added.
Turkey’s foreign ministry had earlier denounced the attack as “a shameful assassination”.
Haniyeh, who spent much time in Turkey before the October 7 attacks launched by Hamas on Israel, last paid a visit to Erdogan in Istanbul in April.
While Hamas is viewed by the United States, the European Union and Israel as a terrorist organisation, Erdogan described it as “a liberation movement”.
Since 2011 and an agreement that saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Turkey has provided a refuge for Hamas officials.
AFP
