“Many have forgotten about this”: what explains Erdogan's sympathy for Hamas

“Many have forgotten about this”: what explains Erdogan’s sympathy for Hamas Vera Konoval

Turkish President Recep Erdogan recently made a batch of scandalous statements. Some of them concerned Israel. This is not the first time that Erdogan has spoken out quite aggressively regarding Jerusalem.

In addition, Erdogan has repeatedly supported the actions of Hamas. Israeli military observer David Sharp in conversation with 24 Channelexplained what is behind the Turkish leader's sympathy for Hamas and dislike for Israel.

Why Hamas sympathizes with Erdogan

Erdogan is an Islamist, although many forget this. He leads and heads the Islamist “Justice and Development Party”, which has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood movement. They have many branches and varieties, but they are united by a special “love” for Israel. This special “love” for Israel on Erdogan's part is ideological and religious in nature, noted David Sharp.

“Muslim Brotherhood”

Arab Sunni-Islamic radical religious-political association. It emerged in 1928 from a small group that was created in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna in Ismailia. Since its founding in 1928, the Islamist association “Muslim Brotherhood” has developed into a powerful regional network, which included political, social and military units in many countries of the Arab world.

Recep Erdogan's hatred of Israel is much greater than that of many rulers of Arab countries, who act only for their own benefit. Erdogan is an ideologist, and a rather emotional one at that.

“It is interesting that one of the branches of the Muslim Brotherhood is the Hamas movement – ​​the same one that Israel is currently fighting in the Gaza Strip. It is precisely because of this ideological kinship that Erdogan has a special sympathy for Hamas. Not only does he not consider them terrorists, but he also considers them an ordinary national liberation movement, which is almost a direct quote,” Sharp noted.

Indeed, shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel, Recep Erdogan quite sharply outlined his attitude towards the Palestinian-Israeli war. According to him, Hamas is a liberation movement that is fighting for its independence.

“Erdogan is accepting Hamas on his territory, moreover, Hamas terrorists are planning terrorist attacks from Turkish territory in Israel. These are proven facts. Accordingly, Erdogan's attitude towards Israel is negative,” the military observer explained.

Is it realistic to exclude Turkey from NATO

We will also add that Erdogan recently stated that Turkey could “enter Israel, like Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.” Because of such threats, Israel demands that Turkey be excluded from NATO.

The statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry should not be given much importance. This call is more of a formal declarative action. Israel cannot decide who is and who will be a member of NATO. Even any NATO member cannot decide who to exclude from the Alliance. In general, the mechanism of exclusion from NATO is very unclear, Sharp emphasized.

Although it is worth noting that even without Israel, many countries and individual officials consider Turkey superfluous in the North Atlantic Alliance.

“Today, NATO can do without Turkey, it is alien from a cultural, civilizational and political point of view. But a non-Erdogan Turkey may look somewhat different. This is obvious to many in the West. At one time, he addressed Western leaders, especially leading ones, with impressive attacks; he made very loud and undiplomatic statements,” the military observer explained.