Sensitive to Hamas' own relations with Turkey, Hamas has been careful not to publicly criticize the Muslim state, saying last week only that it is "not good news" and pointing out that it may affect Turkey's relations with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Yesterday, however, Turkey did something that Naim could not stop himself from criticizing.
Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said on December 20 “Certainly the Israeli state and the Israeli people are friends of Turkey."
That is going too far for Hamas. Naim, under the hashtag "#unacceptable," wrote:
It is understandable for [Turkey] to take their interests in international relations into account, but for the deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party Mr. Omer Celik to say that the State of Israel and its people are friends of Turkey is not acceptable at all, and incompatible with the general context of Turkish policy. #Israel_NotAFriend_ToMuslimsThe media has been assuming that reports that Turkey will deport Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruori and close his Hamas office is upsetting to Hamas, but Hamas has not said anything against that. Shlomi Eldar, writing in Al Monitor, claims that Aruori has been a thorn in Hamas' side, by orchestrating terror attacks without coordination with other Hamas leaders (most notably the kidnapping of three Israeli teens in 2014.) Eldar is downplaying Hamas' role in the current stabbing spree - some of the attackers were openly affiliated with Hamas and Hamas has publicly encouraged attacks - but his analysis says that Turkey is offering Hamas two carrots: the easing of Israel's closure of Gaza and getting rid of Arouri. If that is true then it would explain Hamas' relative silence on the matter.
But calling Israel a "friend" crosses all red lines.
