Amid Ankara’s efforts to repair relations with Israel, Hamas members and associates are being deported from Turkey, according to Palestinian officials.
“Dozens of people identified with Hamas, in various circles, have been deported [from Turkey],” one official told Israel Hayom.
There was nothing “random” about the decision, the official said.
“Turkey asked them to leave, and it actually happened in the last few months. Some of the people with ties to Hamas’s military wing have been deported,” he added.
Israel was behind the development, the official claimed.
“The Israelis gave Turkey a list of Hamas members and information about the involvement of some of them in ‘military’ [terrorist] activity. In response, the Turks contacted Hamas and told them, ‘You promised you wouldn’t do anything like that here, so now you need to leave,’” he said.
Turkey had told the Hamas leadership that “economic interests” were at play, the official added. However, he continued, “Hamas knows that Israel has influence over Turkey when it comes to security issues. A few Israeli security representatives have also visited Turkey.”
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar also reported in an article published on Tuesday that some Hamas members who had left Turkey were not being allowed to return.
This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Israel Hayom.
