Erdogan Urges World to Recognize Hamas

The Turkish Prime Minister walked off in front of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other panel members complaining that his comments on the conflict in Gaza were cut short by the Washington Post's moderator.

(TEHRAN) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for recognition of Hamas which won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections.

In an interview with The Washington Post published Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said isolating Hamas is the reason for the ongoing tensions in the region.

He criticized world leaders for failing to respect the political will of the Palestinian people who voted for the Palestinian resistance movement.

Erdogan said Hamas would have been in a different situation if the world had given it a chance in politics after winning elections.

The Turkish prime minister said Hamas would not be able to change the situation as long as Palestine was "an open air prison".

Hamas won the 2006 Parliamentary elections with 74 of the 132 available seats. The rival ruling Fatah faction got only 45 seats.

Western-backed Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah however fired Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's unity government in June 2007.

Erdogan's remarks came after his recent public spat with Israel's President Shimon Peres, over the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip, in the world economic forum meeting on Thursday.

On Thursday, Erdogan stormed out of the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland after a heated debate with Shimon Peres on Gaza.

Erdogan told Peres in the Forum, "Mr. Peres, you are a senior citizen and you speak in a loud voice. I feel that your raised voice is due to the guilt you feel.

Erdogan walked off in front of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other panel members complaining that his comments on the conflict were cut short by the Washington Post's moderator David Ignatius.

Israel launched the military campaign against the impoverished coastal strip after an Israeli National Security Council assessment urged Tel Aviv to hinder 'elections in the Palestinian Authority at all costs' because it may lead to another Hamas victory.

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Vic February 7, 2009 11:34 am (Pacific time)

"impactful action"...that is the crossroads where many of us disagree on what actually IS impactful action, or rather self-congratulatory posturing (like much of the anti-war movement that we have seen). People like us are shunned by the "left" for being too militant, while we see them as cowards and wanna-bes that have no real conviction. Maybe there is a place and purpose for everyone and every approach, but there is a lot of division, which is just the way the powers that be would like it.

Vic February 7, 2009 9:51 am (Pacific time)

Right on, Dorsett !

Henry Ruark February 7, 2009 9:45 am (Pacific time)

Friend Dorsett et al: You wrote: "If the Obama administration does not pressure the Israeli government to moderate its extreme actions against Hamas, it will be primarily for the political reason of fallout from the Jewish vote in the United States, and their most powerful lobby, AIPAC. It is a terrible travesty." Thank you for thoughtful review, esp. points re our Founders as then-designated "terrorists." Agree in large part with rest, too, esp. quoted-section here. Would add that what action is taken depends very heavily on what WE now demand. Remember FDR's insistence on "NOW make me do it !" ? That is forgotten essential of all democratic governance, which we neglect NOW of all times to our overwhelming sorrow, if we allow apathy and indifference to shape what our leaders and elected representatives are allowed to perpetrate. It is still OUR nation, IF we will make it so by determination and participation, as right here in this channel, but then followed by impactful action to make our voices heard where they surely will count.

Dorsett Bennett February 7, 2009 12:57 am (Pacific time)

During our revolutionary war against the British Crown; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and thousands of other Americans were considered traitors; or if they used today’s nomenclature, terrorists. Just like the British considered the two Jewish terrorist resistance organization fighting for an independent Israel after World War II. Those organizations where the Hagennah and the Irgun. The Irgun was established as a militant offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. The Irgun movement used terrorist methods to blow up the King David Hotel in '46 killing hundreds, expel all the Palestinians from Jaffa, and that played a central role in the massacre of Arabs at Deir Yassin. A former head of the Irgun, later became the prime minister of Israel. Hamas won the Palestinian election in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. But with Israeli support, Fatah (the good Palestinians?), kept control of the West Bank. I do not think that the Israeli civilians in the southern half of their country should be subject to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. But all reasonable people should ask themselves why did Fatah lose and Hamas overwhelmingly win the election? Might it be the corruption and the ineffectiveness of the prior Fatah government? People in the know seem to think that Hamas has done a far superior job of providing essential services to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the economic blockade by Israel and Egypt. The endlessly stupid Bush administration encouraged the Israelis NOT to negotiate with Hamas and extend the cease-fire. For any dipstick that responds back that Hamas has called for the destruction of Israel, Fatah called for the same thing for decades. Wake up and smell the roses. If the Obama administration does not pressure the Israeli government to moderate its extreme actions against Hamas, it will be primarily for the political reason of fallout from the Jewish vote in the United States, and their most powerful lobby, AIPAC. It is a terrible travesty.

Vic February 6, 2009 10:18 am (Pacific time)

Snoozer, you sound really informed on this. Do you know anyone who lives in Gaza? We know several, and they do not reflect your murderous wishes. You are full of it, and I suspect, an Israeli shill.

Snoozer February 6, 2009 9:08 am (Pacific time)

All the world needs to recognize, is that HAMAS needs to die. That is the only hope for peace for the Palestinians. HAMAS only kills, be it Israelis or Palestinians, it does not matter. It kills more Palestinians than Israel does...

conservative February 6, 2009 1:30 am (Pacific time)

Hamas has been recognized as a Terrorist Organization. Isn't that enough?

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