Erdogan Hosts Historic Meeting Between Feuding Palestinian Leaders
In a push toward unity, Palestinian Authority head Abbas and Hamas leader Haniyeh meet in Turkey for the first time since 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a meeting Wednesday in Ankara between two feuding Palestinian leaders.
The head of the quasi-autonomous Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, arrived in Turkey on Tuesday. He was joined Wednesday by Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the political bureau of Hamas, the Islamist party that controls the Gaza Strip.
The last time the two Palestinian leaders met was in 2022, in Algiers.
According to press sources, Abbas and Haniyeh agreed on the need to “unify national efforts to confront the dangers threatening the Palestinian cause.”
At the Ankara meeting, Abbas reportedly proposed an agenda for an upcoming Palestinian leadership summit in Cairo on July 30, which Haniyeh plans to attend.
Abbas was also reported to have invited Haniyeh to join the Palestinian Liberation Organization, an umbrella group for Palestinian groups to which Hamas—a critical Palestinian player—does not belong.
In Ramallah, the hometown of the Palestinian Authority, rumors abound that Abbas hopes to create a government of “national unity” that would include Hamas.
In Ankara Wednesday, Abbas reportedly stressed his commitment to “peaceful resistance” to Israeli rule in the West Bank and its siege of Gaza. His comments implicitly critique Hamas, which fires missiles into Israel, attacks Jewish settlers, and clashes with its troops.
In the three-way meeting with Haniyeh and Erdoğan, Abbas reportedly rejected the Islamist leader’s request to release Hamas detainees arrested by the Palestinian Authority. Abbas linked any such release to the Cairo meeting’s outcome.
For his part, Haniyeh assured Abbas that Hamas focuses only on targeting Israeli forces in the West Bank and has no interest in attacking the Palestinian Authority.
Wednesday’s meeting appears to be part of a more general effort by the Turkish leader, Erdoğan, to broker a deal between the rival Palestinian factions and position himself as a regional mediator.
At Tuesday’s press conference with Abbas, Erdoğan called on Palestinians to bridge their internal differences.
“Reconciliation among our Palestinian brothers,” he said, is the “key” to successful Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking, and Turkey “is ready to give all sorts of support in this regard.”
Palestinians have been politically split since 2007 when Hamas fighters took over the Gaza Strip. They defeated their rivals from the Fatah party, which kept control over the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
This battle came on the heels of a Palestinian election in 2006, which Hamas won.
Mahmoud Abbas is both chairman of Fatah and head of the Palestinian Authority and benefits from international and grudging Israeli support. Gaza, by contrast, is besieged by Israel and Egypt and does not have access to most international aid.
Hamas maintains a tight grip over the Strip’s two million Palestinians. Still, it is increasingly challenged by a more radical group, Islamic Jihad, which says it will boycott the July 30 meeting in Cairo.
Fatah and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority partially control the West Bank’s 2.8 million Palestinians, but Israel forces there have overall authority.
Abbas is on his second visit to Turkey in almost a year, part of an attempt by the Palestinian leader to shore up support for his rule at home and to bolster his position vis-à-vis Israel.
Turkey is a key regional player, and Erdoğan has recently tried to restore his country’s ties to Israel.
Both Israel and Turkey are military powerhouses, and both are allied with the US. Turkey is a key NATO member, and Israel receives almost $4 billion in annual US aid.
Turkey’s relations with Israel had cooled after that country’s 2008-2009 mini-war with Hamas in Gaza. In recent months, however, Jerusalem and Ankara have drawn closer.
Erdoğan has long attempted to serve as a regional middleman. Last year, he helped negotiate a now-defunct deal between Ukraine and Russia to export Ukraine’s grain via Turkey and the Black Sea.
The US opposes Hamas, like Israel, but Turkey has kept its lines open to the Gaza-based Islamists.
Erdoğan has been able to balance Turkey’s relationships with the US and Russia and Ukraine and Russia. I’m sure he can achieve a balance in his diplomacy with Israel and Palestinians.
Yusuf Erim, editor-at-large for Turkey’s English-language public broadcaster, TRT World, told The Media Line that “Erdoğan has been able to balance Turkey’s relationships with the US and Russia and Ukraine and Russia. I’m sure he can achieve a balance in his diplomacy with Israel and Palestinians.”
Some Palestinians have been concerned that Turkey’s Israel rapprochement could change Ankara’s support for Palestinians, but Erim says the opposite is more likely.
“Turkey’s policy on Palestine has remained unchanged for decades,” Erim said, regardless of the government in power. “Turkey’s warming relations with Israel will [likely] positively impact the Palestinian issue.”
Emad Abu Awaad, director of the Al Quds think tank in Ramallah, told The Media Line that Erdoğan is trying to balance Turkey’s regional relations.
He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to visit Turkey soon. Among other things, the two countries will talk about the future of Mediterranean gas exploitation. Netanyahu’s planned visit follows others by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.
Abu Awaad said Erdoğan’s hosting of the rival Palestinian leaders is designed partly to ensure parity in its ties to Israel and the Palestinians.
On Tuesday, Erdoğan told reporters that Turkey was in “solidarity with the Palestinian people” and supports “the Palestinian cause in the strongest possible way.”
Erdoğan also reiterated Turkey’s commitment to a two-state, Israel-Palestine deal based on the borders in place before the 1967 war. He said a future Palestinian state should have its capital in East Jerusalem.
Palestinians are determined to include East Jerusalem in any future peace deal, but Israel regards it as part of their capital.
Abbas’ visit to Ankara comes amid increasing violence in the West Bank. Palestinians have attacked Jewish settlers; settlers have attacked Palestinians; and, earlier this month, the Israeli army launched its largest West Bank raid in 20 years, using armored vehicles, drones, and helicopter gunships.
Twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died in that two-day battle. The Jenin refugee camp, where the fighting occurred, suffered extensive damage.
Palestinians are increasingly frustrated with Abbas’ rule, which many regard as ineffective. A day after Israel’s military raid in Jenin, residents angrily blocked senior Palestinian officials from giving a speech.
Abu Awaad, the Palestinian analyst, said Palestinians have little hope that this week’s meeting in Turkey, or the upcoming Palestinian summit in Cairo, will yield positive results.
Abbas reportedly seeks to blunt public dissatisfaction with his rule by including his archrival, Hamas, in a unity government.
Palestinians, however, are used to their leaders posing for the cameras with broad smiles, warm handshakes, and hugs, only to see their hopes dashed soon after.
