There’s no doubt Turkey sponsors terrorism; why won’t the State Department say so?

On Aug. 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted two senior Hamas operatives in Istanbul. It was the second meeting Erdogan has had with Hamas leaders inside Turkey this year. The State Department protested. “Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” its statement read. “The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program is seeking information about one of the individuals for his involvement in multiple terrorist attacks, hijackings, and kidnappings.”

While striking that the State Department has called out a nominal ally for turning a blind eye to terrorism if not supporting it, department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus’s statement is still restrained. After all, the problem is not simply that Erdogan indulges Hamas (he has done that openly since 2006), but rather that Erdogan again apparently allows Hamas to plan terror attacks from Turkish soil. Earlier this month, Erdogan gave Turkish passports to 12 senior Hamas terrorists, including one involved in a failed attempt to assassinate the mayor of Jerusalem. Earlier this month, Erdogan threatened to “liberate al Aqsa” and free Jerusalem from Israeli control. Greek authorities suggest that Erdogan himself ordered this month’s Hamas balloon bomb attacks from the Gaza Strip in order to precipitate further conflict with Israel against the backdrop of Israel’s peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates. That is textbook terror sponsorship. This is not old news but affirms 2015 reports that Erdogan had moved Hamas’s Damascus headquarters to Turkey.

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Πηγή: washingtonexaminer.com