Turkey Backs Fatah-Hamas Unity Deal

Turkey “will strongly support the reconciliation agreement and offer all humanitarian aid” for the Hamas-Fatah unity government that was announced Wednesday,  Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Gaza’s de facto prime minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became a fan of Hamas five years ago, at the same time relations with Israel deteriorated. Israel has made amends with Turkey, but the slow return to more normal ties has not affected Erdogan’s support for Hamas. He has stated several time in the past three years he will visit Gaza but has yet to make good on what is seen by Hamas as a promise and by Israel as a threat.

Qatar, whose ruler visited Gaza last year and presented a fat check of hundreds of millions of dollars to Haniyeh. Not surprisingly celebrated the announcement of unity.