Hamas leader in surprise Turkey visit

[Scurrilous]

A senior Hamas leader is on a surprise visit to Ankara for talks with Turkish diplomats.

<snip>

"Turkey said they would use the meeting with Khalid Mishaal, the exiled supreme leader of Hamas, on Thursday to put forward international demands for the resistance group to renounce violence.

A Turkish foreign ministry statement said: "The expectations of the international community following the Palestinian elections will be clearly conveyed during the talks," adding that Hamas had asked to send a delegation to Turkey.

Mishaal is on a tour to muster support from Muslim states to counter Western governments' efforts to step up the pressure on the party that won last month's Palestinian elections."

<snip>

"The talks are likely to upset Turkey's allies, the United States and Israel, both of which are seeking to maintain the group's international isolation. Israel has categorically ruled out any talks with Hamas as long as it remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish state."


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6F4DF870-B949-4736-8BAB-CED82AF0A245.htm

[cliss]

1. This has GOT to make them sweat

in Washington today. In the Poker Game of Politics, Turkey has been seen as a very important Ace. The Bush administration desperately needs Turkey to be on their side. It's a moderate islamic country; it's one of the few islamic countries which is more or less 'democratic'.

Now, the US has had its problems with Turkey. They flat-out refused to let the US use Turkey as a staging ground for the war in Iraq. They were bribed heavily; I think they held out $45 billion on a fishing line to lure them. The Turks took it to a vote, and they rejected it!!! Amazing. They were in a meltdown over that in Washington.

But that shows you the power they have in Turkey. They can throw their weight around. They're certainly not US-puppets. I think the fact that they are doing this is maybe to test the US. They know we are weak financially. We're really teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Iran has made some really threatening remarks lately. Russia warned us today not to attack Iran. China of course is the elephant in the living room, and they will not let us attack Iran. Lok at how blatant Chavez has been recently; he basically gives Bush the finger every day.

So they could just be testing the US....see what happens. We'll see. Are we a paper Tiger or not?