BICOM

Both the United States and the Palestinian Authority have expressed apprehension over Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s planned visit to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip next month.

On Friday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an apology to Turkey over an incident in 2010 which resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard the Gaza-bound Turkish protest vessel the Mavi Marmara after Israeli commandos had boarded the boat. It is hoped that the apology will pave the way to re-establishing normal relations between the two countries.

However, Erdogan has subsequently indicated that a normalisation of relations will depend partly on whether Israel lifts the security blockade of Gaza designed to prevent Hamas from importing weaponry. According to Turkey’s Zaman newspaper, Erdogan intends to visit the Gaza Strip next month to monitor developments over the blockade while a Hamas spokesman appeared to confirm the trip in the Turkish daily Hurriyet.

According to the Jerusalem Post, a Palestinian Authority (PA) official criticised Erdogan’s planned visit to Gaza, saying “The Palestinian Authority leadership has informed the Turkish government that we are opposed to such a visit because it would deepen divisions among the Palestinians…The Gaza Strip is not an independent Palestinian state and Hamas is not the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.” The Fatah-controlled PA and Hamas have been fierce rivals since a bloody coup by Hamas in Gaza brought an end to a short-lived unity government in June 2007.

The United States also expressed its concern yesterday over Erdogan’s planned Gaza visit. Acting State Department Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell reminded reporters of “our opposition to engagement with Hamas” while the Jerusalem Post says that a White House representative described Erdogan’s visit as counter-productive to attempts to restore Israeli-Turkish ties.