Turkish PM says Hamas authority must be respected

[Joanne98]

Turkish PM says Hamas authority must be respected
25 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday described the violence in Gaza as a "tragedy" and urged the international community not to marginalise Hamas after its war with Israel.

He also criticised Israel for having showed a lack of respect in keeping Turkey, their main regional ally, in the dark over the Gaza offensive.

Erdogan, speaking on a visit to the European Union headquarters in Brussels, said the militant Islamist group had clearly won elections in Gaza in 2007 and this had to be respected.

"We should not be squeezing them into the corner," he said.

Hamas should be left the time to show if it was capable of improving conditions in Gaza, he said.

"If they are not successful they will lose the next time," Erdogan said in a speech at a European Policy Center conference.

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