Agence France-Presse
Istanbul, June 25: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met the leader of radical Palestinian group Hamas for unscheduled talks following reports Ankara was close to agreeing a deal on normalising ties with Israel.
Erdogan received the Doha-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, whose group rules the Gaza Strip, at the Ottoman-era Yildiz Palace in Istanbul, the official Anadolu Agency reported yesterday, quoting presidential sources. Turkish press reports have said Israel and Turkey could hold final talks on normalising ties Sunday but this had yet to be confirmed. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday there was a “large possibility” the negotiations would take place by the end of this month. Anadolu said Erdogan and Meshaal discussed how to ease the humanitarian problems of the Palestinians and how to bridge the differences between Hamas and the other main Palestinian group Fatah.
