In mid-August, Jihad Watch reported that Turkey had been accused of giving citizenship to Hamas members who were planning jihad terror attacks, which Turkey denied. Just over a week after that, Turkish President Erdogan hosted a large Hamas delegation, including wanted jihad terrorists who murdered Israelis. Now comes more:
Turkey has granted citizenship to a dozen high-ranking members of the Hamas terror group living on Turkish soil who have been involved in orchestrating terror attacks, the Reuters news wire reported citing an Israeli diplomat.
Citizenship was also granted to their families.
Turkey is rapidly escalating its jihad threat against Western interests as it strengthens its alliance with the global network of Muslim Brotherhood operatives and al-Qaeda.
“Turkey Grants Citizenship to a Dozen Senior Hamas Terrorists and Their Families,” by Deborah Danan, Breitbart, August 27, 2020:
Turkey has granted citizenship to a dozen high-ranking members of the Hamas terror group living on Turkish soil who have been involved in orchestrating terror attacks, the Reuters news wire reported citing an Israeli diplomat.
“Some are in the process, some already got (the documents), but we are talking about around a dozen,” says Roey Gilad, chargé d’affaires at Israel’s Embassy in Turkey, according to Reuters.
According to Gilad, Israel has evidence to that end.
“We have already one document that we will present to the government in copy,” he said. “Judging by the last experience we had by presenting a well-based portfolio to the government… and getting no reply, I must say I don’t have high hopes that something will be done this time.”
He added the Hamas members receiving Turkish passports were financing and organizing “terror-related activity” in Istanbul, but Turkey had not taken action.
According to Gilad, many of them came to Turkey under the 2011 prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel to exchange captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for more than 1,000 prisoners.
A senior regional source told the Telegraph that seven some of the Hamas members are living in Turkey under aliases. Citizenship has also been granted to the families of the Hamas members, the paper said.
“These are not foot soldiers but the most senior Hamas operatives outside of Gaza,” the source told the paper, adding they are are “actively raising funds and directing operatives to carry out attacks in the present day.”
“The Turkish Government gave in to pressure by Hamas to grant citizenship to its operatives, thereby allowing them to travel more freely, endangering other countries that have listed Hamas as a terror group.”
One of the cell members who has apparently received citizenship is Zacharia Najib, who was responsible for a plot to assassinate high-ranking Israeli officials, including the national police commissioner and Likud MK Nir Barkat, who was then mayor of Jerusalem.
Turkish citizens can already travel visa-free to a range of countries, the Telegraph noted, adding that Turkey is working to obtain a similar privilege to European Union countries.
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday strongly objected to a weekend meeting in Istanbul between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a delegation of senior Hamas leaders, including wanted terrorists.
State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri are designated by the U.S. and European Union as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”
Al-Arouri, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from U.S. authorities, is wanted for his ties to several terror attacks, kidnappings and hijackings, including the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers — one with U.S. citizenship — in the West Bank, which he praised as a “heroic operation.” Ortagus said in a statement:
President Erdoğan’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza.
We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels. This is the second time President Erdogan has welcomed Hamas leadership to Turkey this year with the first meeting occurring February 1.
The response came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Jerusalem for Khartoum in Sudan for the second leg of his Middle East tour.
The condemnation marks a departure from U.S. policy, which for years has ignored Ankara’s ongoing support for the terrorist group….
Kepha says
It’s about time that an Islamic country gave citizenship to the victims of an-Nakhbar and their descendants. Maybe the whole of the Gaza Strip can move to Turkey. They say, after all, that the original Philistines were originally migrants from the Aegean region. Anatolia is close enough.
andrew mckendrick says
Time for Turkey to be expelled from NATO.
jewdog says
Maybe the State Department dimwits are finally getting the right idea about Nerdogan. But how long will it take before Turkey is finally considered an enemy instead of a misguided ally?
gravenimage says
Turkey grants citizenship to dozens of “most senior” Hamas jihadist operatives and their families
………..;.
Nothing for actual refugees, but citizenship for Jihad terrorists. Says it all.
mortimer says
Why not grant the Pallies Turkish citizenship? Most of the Pally leaders have monster homes in Turkish occupied Cyprus!
Erdogan wants ALL Muslims to become Turkish citizens … even against their wills.
livepeanuts says
When Turkey “our ally” during the “war on terror” in Syria and who was sort of “neutral” decided to “support” NATO powers, we all held our breath to see what the Turkish war machine was going to do.
Well the first thing it did was not to attack the Islamic State but to attack the Kurds who were fighting alongside us AGAINST the Islamic State!
For a long time Turkey’s behaviour was very suspect and here we could see what they really meant.
Turkey was never our ally in the first place.
It is so wrong what USA did to the Kurds, that was disgraceful.
OLD GUY says
Turkey is big trouble.