Turkey welcomes EU decision to remove Hamas from terror list

Turkey welcomed a European Union court’s decision to remove Hamas from a list of terrorist organisations, the Anadolu Agency reported.

At a press briefing yesterday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç described the decision as a positive development. “Turkey’s position on the Palestinian issue is obvious,” he said, stressing that for Turkey the priority is the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Bilgiç said that Turkey and Iran have discussed the Syrian crisis during Foreign Minister Mouloud Jawish Ihsanoglu’s visit to Tehran on Wednesday, adding that the Turkish minister said that “the Syrian regime has lost its legitimacy and although Turkey and Iran differ in this regard, the channels of dialogue continue to be open”.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that consultations with US officials about training moderate Syrian opposition forces in Turkey continue.