Turkey Holds Talks With Hamas Amid Israeli Objections (Update5)
2006-02-16 14:07 (New York)

     (Adds meeting with Turkey's governing party in ninth
paragraph, Moscow meeting in 15th.)

By Mark Bentley
     Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders of Hamas, the militant group
that won Palestinian elections on Jan. 25, today met with
officials of the Turkish government, which is offering to act as
a mediator in any peace talks with Israel.
     Turkey said the talks with exiled political leader Khaled
Mashaal provided an opportunity to relay the concerns of the
international community about Hamas's victory in the election.
Israel disapproved of the contacts, saying they undermined
efforts to make Hamas change its ways.
     ``We need to give the right messages in order to ensure the
continuation of the Middle East peace process,'' Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters at a televised news
conference in Ankara. ``Turkey is trying to do its part during
these critical days.''
     Strains are developing in the international community over
how best to deal with Hamas, which has staged 58 suicide bombings
against Israeli targets in the past five years. U.S. President
George W. Bush has said the U.S. won't deal with the group unless
it renounces its call for Israel's destruction.
     Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S.
and the European Union, won 74 out of 132 seats in the
Palestinian Legislative Council in the election last month,
defeating Fatah, which has run the authority since 1994.

                         Mediation

     Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jan. 27 said
Turkey was ready to mediate between Israel and any future Hamas-
led government in the Palestinian territories. Israel has ruled
out any further peace talks should they include Hamas.
     Turkey's decision to have talks with Hamas is ``superfluous
and prejudicial,'' Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.
     ``They give Hamas legitimacy, and the subject of the
existence of the state of Israel is not a subject for
negotiation,'' Livni said at a televised news conference in
Jerusalem with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
     Mashaal met today with Ahmet Uzumcu, who heads the Turkish
Foreign Ministry's Middle East department. He also held talks
with Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, deputy chief of Erdogan's ruling
Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
     Turkey sought the approval of the U.S. and Israel before
today's talks, the Istanbul-based CNN Turk television said,
citing unidentified officials of the Turkish government.
     Turkey is the only Muslim member of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and is a close U.S. ally. The country,
bordering Syria, Iran and Iraq, has political and economic
relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

                        Relations Damaged

     Relations between Israel and Turkey were damaged two years
ago when Erdogan said Israel's killing of Hamas spiritual leader
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004 could be categorized as a
terrorist act. Both countries have since stressed the importance
of their ties, which include military cooperation.
     Turkey says Hamas must renounce violence and acknowledge
Israel's right to exist, echoing U.S. policy toward the group.
     U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday told a
senate committee that the U.S. won't give financial aid to a
Palestinian government led by Hamas.
     Russia has urged the inclusion of Hamas in the Middle East
peace effort, saying the Islamic movement won a legitimate
victory. A delegation from Hamas is expected to visit Moscow in
early March for meetings with the Russian government, the Russian
Foreign Ministry said today in a statement on its Web site.