|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/hamas-still-finds-harbor-in-turkey/article/2002746
Turkey Still Harbors Hamas
(Weekly Standard) Jonathan Schanzer - As talks about normalizing ties with Israel near completion, the ejection from Turkey of senior Hamas officials appears to be at the heart of Israel's demands. While exiled military leader Saleh Arouri was deported in December 2015, many others remain. Bakri Hanifa, a major financial operative for Hamas, owns at least one company dealing in precious metals, diamonds, and gems in Istanbul. Maher Ubeid, a member of the Hamas politburo, reportedly is in charge of handling Hamas' international relations and is also a major financial operative. As long as Hamas operatives continues to operate there in the light of day, Israel sees Turkey as a state sponsor of terrorism. The writer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.