Mehmet Y. Yilmaz: Advice went in one of Meshaal's ears and out the other
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 21, 2006 10:59
Shuffled into Turkey as quickly as possible with the explanation of "don't let them go to Iran," Halid Meshaal and the Hamas delegation were in Tehran yesterday. There, Meshaal thanked the Iranian authorities for "their approach to the Palestinian problem."
As you know, there is a one hundred and eighty degree difference between Turkey and Iran's approaches to this problem. Tehran wants Israel to leave the region and move somewhere else, whereas Ankara is asking the Palestian leaders to recognize Israel and to keep up efforts for peace.
So I guess it means that Gu's "four pieces of advice" for Meshaal went in one ear of the Hamas leader and out the other. What we don't know is whether Meshaal spoke with as top level a government authority as Gul is while he was in Iran; Tehran is not making any statements about his visit.
In any case, it looks as though the visit to Ankara by the Hamas authorities will open the way to a few other developments which Turkey is not going to like. And so, we'll see then what answer we can give to Western authorities who say "we are trying to keep an equal distance between the sides."
So I guess it means that Gu's "four pieces of advice" for Meshaal went in one ear of the Hamas leader and out the other. What we don't know is whether Meshaal spoke with as top level a government authority as Gul is while he was in Iran; Tehran is not making any statements about his visit.
In any case, it looks as though the visit to Ankara by the Hamas authorities will open the way to a few other developments which Turkey is not going to like. And so, we'll see then what answer we can give to Western authorities who say "we are trying to keep an equal distance between the sides."