Haaretz
Shvat 19, 5766
While Hamas' political
chief Khaled Meshaal was holding talks with Turkish officials in Ankara on
Thursday, Russia announced it had agreed in principle on a meeting with
Hamas officials in Moscow in early March.
A top Russian military
officer also said Thursday that Russia could decide on weapons deliveries
to the Palestinians after the talks with Hamas leaders, the Interfax news
agency reported.
"This decision must be made with the new
Palestinian leadership," the army's chief of the general staff, Gen. Yuri
Baluyevsky, was quoted as saying.
He said that two helicopters
expected to be delivered to the Palestinians would be unarmed and were
intended for transporting the territory's leaders.
"Armored
equipment is also intended for stabilizing the situation," Interfax quoted
Baluyevsky as saying. The Palestinian Authority plans to buy two Mi-17
transport helicopters and 50 armored personnel carriers, Interfax
said.
Turkish FM pressures Hamas
Turkish Foreign Minister
Abudullah Gul said on Thursday that he had clarified to Hamas that Turkey
stood firmly behind the Middle East Quartet's condition to withhold aid
from a Hamas-led Palestinian government unless the Islamist group
renounces violence and abandons its commitment to Israel's
destruction.
A Hamas delegation headed by the group's political
chief, Khaled Meshaal, arrived in Turkey Thursday for unexpected talks.
This was the first visit by senior members of the militant Islamist
organization to a non-Arab country since it won a January 25
election.
An official in Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
office said the prime minister would not meet Hamas leaders during their
visit to Ankara.
"It is out of the question that the prime minister
hold talks with the Hamas delegation," the official told reporters.
Foreign Minister Tzipi livni said her Turkish counterpart had told
her in advance that a Hamas delegation would be arriving in Turkey for
talks.
In an interview to Israel Radio, Livni attempted to
downplay the importance of the meeting, saying that Israel's conditions
for ties with a Palestinian Authority led by Hamas were not subject to
negotiations.
Livni said, nevertheless, that Israel was opposed to
Turkey's meeting Hamas.
The United States and the European Union,
which Turkey aims to join, both list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
They have threatened to cut off aid to any Palestinian government run by
Hamas unless the group adheres to the quartet's conditions.
Turkish
government sources said the delegation that arrived on Thursday led by
Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal would hold talks with Foreign
Ministry officials including Deputy Under-Secretary Ahmet Uzumcu and also
with members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The
sources said the AKP, not the Foreign Ministry, had invited Hamas to
Turkey, a Muslim but secular country which has good relations with Israel,
Hamas's sworn enemy, as well as with the Palestinians.
No other
details about Hamas's program were immediately available. It was not clear
whether they would meet Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan or other government
ministers.
Erdogan, who has roots in political Islam, has said the
international community should be ready to work with Hamas after the
Palestinian people voted for them in a fair election.
But Ankara
has also urged Hamas to renounce violence and work with Israel toward a
Middle East peace settlement.
A Hamas official in Gaza said on
Thursday the group had received an official invitation for talks in
Russia.
Khalil Abu Laila said the invitation was sent to Meshaal,
who lives in exile, and that a date for the visit would be agreed
later.
The Hamas trip to Turkey - like its planned visit to Moscow
- is likely to upset Ankara's NATO ally, the United States, as well as
Israel because it challenges their campaign to isolate the group to force
it give up violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.
The
Russian initiative has seemed to open a crack in the Quartet of Middle
East mediators - including the United Nations, European Union and
Washington.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
Wednesday that Moscow agreed that Hamas must commit to seeking peace with
Israel to win international acceptance.
"We will work toward Hamas
accepting the Quartet's positions. This is not just the Quartet's opinion
but also that of the majority of nations, including Arab nations," he said
after talks with EU leaders in Vienna.