Hamas’ Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh’s recent official tour opened the door to financial cooperation between the terror group and Turkey, a high-ranking Hamas official told the Al-Sharq newspaper on Thursday.
The official told the newspaper that Turkey has agreed to carry out a project to support Hamas and rebuild Gaza. According to the official, Hamas will open an official office in Turkey in the coming weeks.
Iran recently cooled its relations with Hamas, after Hamas refused to support Syrian president Bashar Assad.
Despite the cool relations, however, Haniyeh indicated Wednesday he has added Iran to the itinerary of his next international tour.
Haniyeh is expected to depart for the Persian Gulf, where he will meet with officials in Qatar, Barain, and Iran, on January 30.
The addition of Iran to Haniyeh’s itinerary comes after Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent Haniyeh a letter on Tuesday congratulating him on the anniversary of Hamas’ victory over Fatah in its bloody June 2007 seizure of Gaza.
Hainyeh recently returned from his first official tour since Hamas violently took over Gaza in 2007. In addition to Turkey, during the tour he also visited Egypt, Tunisia and Sudan.