Hamas leader hails Turkish support for Palestine cause

By Suhib Abed

ISTANBUL

A senior leader of Palestinian resistance group Hamas has praised Turkey’s support for the Palestinian cause.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of a visit to the northern Turkish city of Sakarya, Sami Abu Zuhri described Turkey as a "pivotal" country of the Middle East.

"Turkey is sincere in its support for the Palestinian cause; we attach great importance to its position," he said.

He said Turkish support served to "bolster Palestinian steadfastness and serve the Palestinian cause".

Abu Zuhri said Hamas, which has governed the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, attached great importance to its relations with Turkey.

"Our relations with Turkey help the Palestinians. The future will see further Turkish support," he said.

Asked about the recent normalization of Turkish-Israeli relations, Abu Zuhri said Hamas saw no need to normalize ties with Israel.

"But we don’t interfere in the policies of other countries," he said.

Turkey and Israel renewed formal relations last June following a six-year split over an attack on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla in 2010, when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists in international waters.

-Judaization

Abu Zuhri described a recent Israeli bill that would ban the Muslim call to prayer from being broadcast through loudspeakers as part of an ongoing Israeli policy of "Judaizing" Jerusalem.

"We will spare no effort to foil Israeli attempts to efface the city’s Islamic character," he said.

Earlier this month, an Israeli ministerial committee approved a revised version of the bill that calls for banning the broadcast of the call to prayer through loudspeakers from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

An earlier draft of the bill was met with opposition from Ultra-Orthodox Jewish lawmakers over concerns that the bill could affect Jewish religious practices as well.

Palestinians have rejected the legislation, saying it violates Muslims’ right to worship freely.

Asked why Arab countries were late in condemning last year’s attempted coup in Turkey, Abu Zuhri said Arab states were preoccupied with their own domestic problems.

"The Palestinians were the first to condemn the [attempted] coup [in Turkey] and expressed their satisfaction with its failure," he said.

Turkey blames the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) for last July’s failed coup attempt, which left 248 martyrs in its wake and some 2,200 others injured.