Has Turkey started to cool its relations with the Hamas organization? Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the terrorist organization, was asked to leave the country along with other senior members of Hamas, as reported on the "Al-Monitor" website, according to Palestinian sources.
According to the report, the request came following images that showed Haniyeh and senior Hamas members performing a "thanksgiving prayer" while watching a report on Al-Jazeera news about the incursion into the Gaza Strip envelope.
It was also reported that Ankara expressed outrage at the statements made by Haniyeh's deputy, Salah al-Arouri, in an interview with Al-Jazeera in which he bragged that Hamas is holding a number of Israeli soldiers, in order to force Israel to release all the Palestinian prisoners it is holding. It is claimed that Turkey does not want to be seen as defending Hamas after the massacre.
In an interview with a Turkish television network, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal hinted that the organization expected to receive stronger support from Turkey. In an interview he claimed that "I have great respect for Turkey, but it should tell Israel to stop." However, in "Al-Monitor" they estimated that Turkey is not expected to harden its position towards Hamas, as the Western countries would like.