By Gatestone Institute | Created at 2026-06-25 09:00:09 | Updated at 2026-06-25 10:08:42
1 hour ago
As the Trump Administration seeks to stabilize the Gaza Strip through its "Board of Peace" initiative, one participant stands out as particularly ill-suited for the role of mediator: Turkey.
The inclusion of Turkey in any effort to disarm Hamas or promote peace in the Middle East would be laughable if the stakes were not so high. For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have served as some of Hamas's most loyal supporters and protectors.
While Western officials continue to speak of Turkey as a valuable NATO ally and potential regional peacemaker, Hamas has transformed Turkish territory into one of its most important overseas operational bases.
The evidence is overwhelming.
Israeli security authorities recently revealed that they had foiled dozens of terrorist attacks directed by Hamas operatives based in Turkey. According to Israeli authorities, Hamas's so-called "West Bank Headquarters" operates from Turkey, where it recruits terrorists, transfers weapons and money, and directs attacks against Israel.
"Over the years, and with increased intensity over the past year, operatives in the West Bank Headquarters have been directing and advancing extensive military activity in Judea and Samaria and Israel from Turkish soil," Israel's Shin Bet security agency reported.
The agency identified Istanbul-based senior Hamas official Zaher Jabarin as the head of Hamas's West Bank operations and named several Hamas operatives living freely in Turkey while directing terrorist activities against Israel.
Among them are Ayman Sharawna, who allegedly recruits terrorists; Mohammed Mallah, who reportedly transfers funds for terrorist operations; Majed Jaaba, who assisted in obtaining the weapons used in a deadly shooting attack near Jerusalem; Walid Abu Nassar, who financed Hamas cells in Bethlehem; and Salam Yaish, who recruited operatives to carry out attacks.
The Shin Bet noted that these Hamas members "carry out their activities unhindered from Turkish territory" and exploit "infrastructure in the country to transfer instructions and funds" to terrorists in the West Bank.
Earlier this year, the Shin Bet announced that an investigation uncovered another Hamas-linked terror network in the West Bank that was directed by a Turkey-based operative, Mahmoud Radwan, and aimed to advance attacks against Israel.
Radwan, a Hamas member released in a prisoner-hostage exchange and deported to Turkey in January 2025, had been imprisoned in Israel for his role in the murder of an Israeli citizen, Yossi Alfasi, in 2001.
Turkey has never designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Instead, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly portrays Hamas as a legitimate political movement and "resistance" organization.
The distinction is not merely semantic. Turkey has allowed Hamas to establish a sophisticated operational base in its midst.
According to documents captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza war, Hamas uses Turkey not only as a political refuge but also as a base for planning terrorist attacks, recruiting operatives, transferring funds, and laundering money.
At least one document outlined Hamas's plan to establish a branch in Turkey dedicated to coordinating attacks against Israel abroad, including assassinations and attacks on Israeli vessels.
Hamas's presence in Turkey expanded significantly after the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, when hundreds of Palestinian convicted terrorists deported from Israel settled in Turkey. Over the years, Hamas built an extensive network of financial institutions, businesses, currency exchange offices, and logistical infrastructure that helped sustain its terrorist operations.
The relationship between Erdogan's government and Hamas is neither hidden not incidental: Turkish leaders openly meet with Hamas officials.
In January, Erdogan received a Hamas delegation in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin later met with senior Hamas leaders in Ankara to discuss the Gaza Strip, ceasefire arrangements, and regional developments. Hamas representatives used the occasion to thank Erdogan personally for Turkey's efforts.
Turkish intelligence and political officials regularly host Hamas delegations and maintain direct channels of communication with the group's leadership.
These are not the actions of a neutral mediator. They are the actions of a patron.
More troubling are reports that Hamas has exploited Turkey's financial system to facilitate massive transfers of money. According to Israeli military and intelligence officials, Hamas operatives in Turkey managed a secret money-exchange network that transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran to Hamas leaders. The network used Turkish financial infrastructure to receive, store, move, and distribute Iranian funds intended for Hamas activities.
The significance of these allegations cannot be overstated.
At a time when the United States and its allies are attempting to curb Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, Turkey has become a critical conduit for Iran's support of Hamas.
Meanwhile, Turkey's rhetoric toward Israel has grown increasingly extreme.
Far from acting as a peacemaker, the Turkish president has repeatedly adopted language and narratives of Hamas itself.
In 2024, Erdogan declared: "Hamas is the same as Kuva – i Milliye [National Forces] in Turkey during the war of liberation."
By comparing Hamas to Turkey's national liberation movement, Erdogan effectively legitimizes a terrorist organization responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre – the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Erdogan has also warned that Israel would eventually target Turkey itself. "Unless its stopped," he said, Israel would "set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later."
Such statements are not merely inflammatory. They reinforce Hamas propaganda, demonize Israel, and encourage Islamist extremists throughout the region.
Even more alarming are direct threats emanating from Ankara.
Erdogan has suggested that Turkey could do to Israel what it did in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, remarks widely interpreted as threats of military intervention. Turkey supplied advanced armed drones, military advisors, and tactical support to its allied governments, which successfully shifted the balance of power on the battlefield.
Turkey's intervention in Libya in 2020 prevented the fall of the Libyan capital into the hands of General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army and saved Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord.
In the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turkey acted as a staunch backer of Azerbaijan. Turkey provided it with intense military training, operational planning, and armed drones. The drones proved highly effective in destroying Armenian air defenses and heavily armed positions, and greatly contributing to Azerbaijan's decisive military victory.
Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci recently declared that Jerusalem would one day again come under Turkish rule. "Just as in the past, those places will again be ours," he said. "They will again, God willing, come under our rule and authority."
Such statements would provoke outrage if they came from any other government. Yet much of the international community has responded with silence.
The consequences are dangerous.
Every time Erdogan praises Hamas, receives Hamas delegations, accuses Israel of "genocide," or threatens Israel, he sends a message to Hamas that it enjoys powerful international backing.
Such rhetoric emboldens Hamas and other jihadist organizations. It encourages them to believe they can survive, regroup, and continue their war against Israel.
At least Turkey's statements clarify the intentions of its government, rather than keeping them quietly hidden where no one can see them.
Turkey's outspoken intentions, however, are what make the notion that Turkey can help disarm Hamas is so cringeworthy. Expecting Erdogan's government to pressure Hamas into surrendering its weapons is like expecting Iran to dismantle Hezbollah.
Turkey's leaders have spent years defending Hamas, legitimizing Hamas, funding Hamas-related activities, and providing Hamas with diplomatic and political cover. Why would anyone seriously believe that they will now help dismantle the very organization they have nurtured?
The reality appears to be that Erdogan has perfected a double game.
To Western audiences, Turkey presents itself as a responsible regional power and indispensable NATO ally.
To Hamas and other Islamist movements, Turkey offers political support, diplomatic protection, financial opportunities, and ideological solidarity.
The United States can longer afford to ignore Turkey's unreliability.
Washington needs to seriously reassess its policy toward Turkey and stop viewing Erdogan's government as a neutral actor capable of advancing peace. A regime that openly embraces Hamas, hosts its operatives, tolerates its financial networks, and echoes its rhetoric is not being an honest broker.
Turkey seems increasingly to be not part of the solution, but part of the problem.
