Turkish PM says Hamas authority must be respected

AFP – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pictured before a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels. …

Mon Jan 19, 7:23 am ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday described the violence in Gaza as a "tragedy" and urged the international community not to marginalise Hamas after its war with Israel.

He also criticised Israel for having showed a lack of respect in keeping Turkey, their main regional ally, in the dark over the Gaza offensive.

Erdogan, speaking on a visit to the European Union headquarters in Brussels, said the militant Islamist group had clearly won elections in Gaza in 2007 and this had to be respected.

"We should not be squeezing them into the corner," he said.

Hamas should be left the time to show if it was capable of improving conditions in Gaza, he said.

"If they are not successful they will lose the next time," Erdogan said in a speech at a European Policy Center conference.

"If we are to move towards democracy in that region then we should respect the decision of the people who went to the ballot box," the Turkish premier, whose ruling party comes from Islamist roots, added.

The European Union and United States have Hamas on their terrorist lists and refuse contacts with it until the militant group recognises Israel's right to exist and renounces violence.

Erdogan again denounced the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip and the fact that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had given them no warning of the coming offensive.

"I have to say we have been saddened by what went on. Israel did not really respect us in that process," he said.

Erdogan said he had had six hours of talks with Olmert at the end of December, during which they had discussed indirect talks with Syria -- in which Turkey had been acting as an intermediary -- and other matters.

"But no mention was ever made during these discussions with Mr. Olmert about Gaza, and three or four days later he should have contacted me," he added.

"Not only did he not contact me, but we then discovered, December 27, that Israel had started to bomb Gaza.

"This lack of respect is something that Israel has to remedy."

But despite his denunciation of Israel's offensive in Gaza, which he described as "savagery", he said there was no question of breaking off relations with Israel.

"We cannot talk about revenge and hatred," he said. "We will continue to have talks at different levels."

Hamas has agreed a ceasefire with Israel after a 22-day war in Gaza which left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead.

Erdogan said his Justice and Development Party had faced similar international reprobation at the start.

"There were many things that were said against my people, but democracy is not confined to the definition of the elites. Within a democracy everyone votes, is equal. If one can respect the result, then one is a democrat," he said.