President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with a delegation from Hamas in Ankara on Wednesday for the first time since the cease-fire took effect in the Gaza Strip.
Erdogan received Muhammad Darwish, the head of Hamas Shura Council, and the Hamas delegation at the Presidential Complex, Türkiye Directorate of Communications said.
The meeting was also attended by key Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Organization chief Ibrahim Kalın and Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.
“Hamas’ 471-day struggle has demonstrated once again the spirit of resistance will not disappear,” Erdoğan told Hamas officials.
Türkiye hopes the second and third stages of the cease-fire will be successfully completed, he said and added, “We will continue exposing the realities in Gaza.”
A three-stage cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached in mid-January after months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the parties.
The first stage of the cease-fire agreement foresees the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, while the Israeli military is to withdraw from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. credited Erdoğan for helping convince Hamas to return to the cease-fire negotiations, using his "influence and leverage."
Türkiye has been fiercely critical of Israel’s brutal offensive in Gaza, which it and others say amounts to genocide. It has also slammed many Western allies for their support of Israel and repeatedly called for Muslim unity to facilitate a desperately needed cease-fire.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of Hamas, which it describes as a resistance movement, unlike the Western countries, which mostly define it as a terrorist group, and hosted its political leaders several times to discuss cease-fire efforts and the humanitarian aid crisis in the blockaded enclave.
It has formally applied to join South Africa's initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
