Hamas target MP seeks sanctions on Turkey
Former Israeli mayor urges US to take action over assassination plot being organised by Istanbul cell
A SENIOR Israeli MP has called on the US to impose sanctions on Turkey after an investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed he had been the target of a Hamas assassination attempt plotted from Istanbul.
Nir Barkat, the former mayor of Jerusalem, was in the sights of a Hamas cell that operates from Istanbul while the Turkish government turns a blind eye to its activities.
In response to the report, Mr Barkat called David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, and urged the Trump administration to introduce sanctions.
“If we want to combat terror, which is a global problem, we must never allow any country to get away with providing infrastructure for terror organisations. If any country provides those services – openly or discreetly – they must be sanctioned,” Mr Barkat said in an interview.
Israel’s foreign ministry also called on Turkey to shut down the Hamas base in Istanbul. “Hamas terrorists are directing attacks against Israel from
Turkey, while the Turkish leadership is turning a blind eye,” said Yuval Rotem, the director general of the ministry.
“Israel calls on Turkey to immediately cut its support for Hamas operations out of its territory.”
It also emerged that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, met two alleged Uk-based Hamas supporters during a trip to Britain for the Nato summit earlier this month.
He addressed a rally of supporters of his Justice and Development Party in London on Dec 5. At the same event he also met with Anas Altikriti and Zaher Birawi, who are both prominent Islamists in the UK with links to Hamas.
Israel designated Mr Birawi as a member of a terrorist organisation in 2013 for allegedly being part of Hamas’s European office. Photographs show him sitting with Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas. Mr Birawi could not be reached for comment.
Mr Altikriti is head of the Cordoba Foundation, which David Cameron once described as the “political front for the Muslim Brotherhood” in Britain. Mr Altikriti has voiced support for Hamas in the past, saying it was “fighting back” against Israeli occupation.
“I support the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom from occupation,” Mr Altikriti said. “Any support for Hamas stems from them being the democratically elected party in 2006. I would have supported and will always support anyone who fights and wins a free and fair democratic election, regardless of faith, culture or ideology.”
Both men reject any suggestion they are terrorists and neither is on a UK list of designated terrorists.
Bringing sanctions against its Nato ally would be a diplomatically fraught move for the US, which has nuclear weapons, aircraft and personnel at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.
The Trump administration has so far shown little appetite for sanctioning Turkey, despite pressure in Congress to punish Mr Erdoğan for his attack on Kurdish forces in north-east Syria.
Zacharia Najib, a senior Hamas operative based in Istanbul, suggested Mr Barkat as an assassination target to a young Hamas recruit who came to Turkey, telling him he would be remembered if he killed a prominent Israeli.
Mr Barkat, a member of the Likud Party who has been touted as a future prime minister, said he has since been contacted by Israel’s security services.