The trips have a number of goals including, but not limited to, strengthening Hamas’ ties with Arab states, reinforcing the legitimacy of Hamas and bolstering Haniyeh’s personal status.

In addition to Qatar, Haniyeh will visit Bahrain, Iran and Kuwait. The visits to Kuwait and Qatar should not be all that interesting. The trip to Iran, on the other hand, will be.

Over recent months, Iran has slowed, if not ceased, its funding of Hamas. This void has reportedly been filled by Turkey, while Iran has turned towards Islamic Jihad.

Nonetheless, Iran will surely do all it can to keep its hand in the game and remain relevant. The question now is whether or not Hamas will decide to fully let go or latch back on to the Iranian regime.

In other news, Hamas’ Khaled Meshal met with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Sunday. I reported on the rapprochement last week.  During the meeting Jordanian officials repeated that they will not allow Hamas to reopen its offices in the country. Nonetheless, Hamas officials said the meeting was “extremely positive and excellent.” Yet, Meshal’s visit,which was scheduled to last three days, was cut short, as he left Jordan on Sunday. Hamas and Jordanian officials have offered no explanation as to why Meshal’s visit was cut short.

Update: Haniyeh will reportedly ask Qatar to fulfill its promise from 2006 to provide Gaza with a $17 million sports facility.

Update: Haniyeh has arrived in Qatar.

Turkish sources reported that Prime Minister of Turkey, Receb Tayyip Erdogan, sent a confidential letter to Ismail Haniyya, Prime Minister of the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip, inviting him to visit Turkey, and informing him that he has decided to grant Haniyya’s government $300 Million.

Jonathan Schanzer wrote shortly thereafter:

…this pledge would cover nearly half of Hamas’s reported $769 million budget next year, and would make Turkey its primary benefactor.

Hamas and Turkish officials deny the report, and Hamas probably won’t submit to an external audit any time soon. But let there be no doubt: Hamas is for sale, thanks to the Iranian nuclear program and the Arab Spring.

….With Iran stepping back, could Turkey step in? From publicly clashing with Israeli president Shimon Peres over Israel’s Hamas policy at Davos in 2009 to sponsoring the ill-fated flotilla that attempted to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza in 2010, Erdogan has become a champion of the Hamas cause.

In recent years, the Turkish government has provided nominal assistance to Hamas in Gaza through a series of charities. Hamas reportedly now operates on Turkish soil, meaning Ankara is already a patron. And Hamas recently announced that leader Ismail Haniyeh plans to visit Turkey soon.

Now, more confirmation of that IMEMC report has arrived. A diplomat was quoted by Reuters today.

“Iran used to give $250 million to $300 million to Hamas but there have been interruptions in the payments in past year. Our understanding is that there has been no payment since August 2011,” he said.

Hamas Gaza Strip leader Ismail Haniyeh was thought to have “received promises from Turkey to provide the movement and his administration with $300 million a year to help Gaza”.

In addition to this Reuters report, Palestinian news sources are reporting that Yediot Ahranot in its Friday paper is reporting that Turkey has agreed to provide Hamas with $300 million.

The Yediot Ahranot article does not appear to be online currently. If it becomes available I will link to it. If anyone has a hard copy and would like to email it, please do.

Update: Haaretz is now running a similar report to Yediot Ahranot. Israel’s Channel 2 is running a very comprehensive report, well worth the read.

Palestine Today and Al-Quds Al-Arabi are reporting that Hamas has denied the reports, as they did with the December report.

Lastly, Shimon Peres in an interview with CNN at Davos said that Hamas was being funded by Turkey.

Update: Turkey has denied the reports.

Officials from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry approached by Today’s Zaman on Sunday denied allegations that Turkey is offering millions of dollars to Hamas, saying that news featuring these allegations was made up and did not reflect the truth.

“There is no cash aid to Hamas, but Turkey is, of course, engaged in projects to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza,” officials said and added, “A $40 million hospital project is one of them, but the construction material for the hospital is not allowed into Gaza.” Turkey frequently complains about an Israeli blockade of Gaza that Israel says is needed to block weapons from reaching Hamas, which Israel considers its archenemy, but which in reality chokes the Gazan economy and keeps Gazans underserved and underdeveloped.

Which begs the question: why did he remain silent about the rumors for so long?

Ending two-month-long speculations about his health, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denied rumors that he is suffering from cancer during an interview with Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand last week.

The idea that Erdoğan has cancer and has been keeping it secret have been circulating since the prime minister underwent surgery on Nov. 26, after which he removed himself from the public eye for more than a month. However, the prime minister has cleared up such speculation, declaring that he is not suffering from cancer and did not undergo chemotherapy. While some say Erdoğan should have made this statement before, without giving way to speculation, some others say the prime minister purposely kept silent about his health to separate his supporters from those pretending to support him.

Milliyet’s Can Dündar said that although he respects Erdoğan’s decision to keep his medical situation secret after his surgery, he thinks that because Erdoğan is the prime minister of the country, the situation of his health influences the man on the street, the course of domestic and foreign politics and the future of the country and so he could have been more transparent about his health from the very beginning. Dündar said the only way Erdoğan could have dealt with the emergence of speculation about his health would have been through a policy of transparency through which Erdoğan could tell the public about his medical situation, but he did not do this.

“He insistently kept his silence on this issue to the very end. By following a policy of secrecy, he also made his inner circle and press advisers keep silent on the issue. What happened as a result? Rumors about Erdoğan’s health began and spread everywhere.” Dündar wishes Erdoğan had made the statement about his health seven weeks ago to prevent all the gossip and debates about his health. He also addressed the rivals of the prime minister and told them to give up making plans for the future over Erdoğan’s health and become a more effective opposition. “In brief, let’s wish Erdoğan a healthy life and stop all this unnecessary talk about his health,” said Dündar.

Yeni Akit’s Hasan Karakaya regrets the fact that some circles who seemingly love Erdoğan, believing the rumors about his health, began to analyze who would assume the leadership of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) after he was gone or who would be the next prime minister and president. “Now, it turns out that Erdoğan does not have cancer, he did not have chemotherapy and he will even resume his visits abroad in March. What will they [those who were so eager to see Erdoğan have cancer] do now? They will either continue with the same attitude or make a U-turn back to Erdoğan’s side. I think during the two-month period [that Erdoğan kept silent about his health], he made an assessment and judgment about those who really support him and those who seem to support him but are ready to turn their backs on him at any time,” Karakaya said.

I’m not sure what to make of this denial. On one hand, a Turkish blogger claimed a respected authority in academia had told him the prime minister was expected to start chemotherapy last month. On the other hand, the notoriously unreliable DEBKA quoted “Western intelligence sources” as saying Erdogan had been diagnosed with colorectal (colon) cancer.

In any event, it’s got to be painful finding out those you thought were your friends have turned against you while you’re down.

Must feel like a kick to the groin.

Turkish Tourist Office in Tel-Aviv

Years ago, when I finished my army service, a fellow Lone Soldier and I talked about where we might go on our post-Zahal wanderings. At the top of our list was Turkey. We had gone so far as to rough out a basic itinerary, including Istanbul (natch), Antalya, Konya, Cappadocia, and more.

In the end, all our planning was for naught, since we realized that we had nowhere near enough Shekels to pull it off, and we spent a week in the closer, cheaper Dahab, Sinai instead. Ooh, I should see how busy the Egyptian Tourism Office in Israel is these days. I’m guessing it’s doing better than the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. Spring!

But I digress. One place we didn’t plan to go on our hypothetical vacation was the Turkish capital, Ankara. In retrospect, that might have been the best place to visit, as it houses the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the reformer who tried to build a more modern, westernized Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s. And given that current Islamist Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems hellbent on dragging Turkey back into the era of Ottoman ‘grandeur’, Atatürk’s tomb seems a fitting metaphor for the times, because Erdoğan is presiding over the gradual death of Atatürk’s dreams.

At this point, given the naked hostility for Israel repeatedly exhibited by Erdoğan (the most notorious example being the 2010, political, non-humanitarian, expired medicine and IHH terrorist-carrying, non-apology-meriting Flotilla), you have to wonder if they even make enough Turkish Lira to break even after paying the rent on this place.

A calabash has been found recently in Mugla, Turkey by a Turkish farmer. This is not a normal cabalash!! Miracoulusly the name of Allah in the Arabic has been written on it which amazes the witnesses from all around Turkey. The farmer, Selahattin Sözer has said “This is a clear miracle. People should take their lessons and believe in Allah.” The mufti (Imam) also stated that the name of Allah is pefrectly appears on the calabash.

Sözer told how he found the calabash:” on 30th of April I wrapped the plants around the trees in my garden. Around 20th of Septemper I saw the Quranic verses on one of them. Then I looked for another ones but did not find any. So, I took it to home and preserved. Then, I again tried to find another in the garden.” He continues “After for years God has bestowed blessings on us by his names. I am going to display it for showing God’s miracle to people. If I can dry it up I will keep it in my home. Everybody who want to see are welcomed to my home. People should take lessons from the miracles and believe in Allah. There are some who say that this is a natural event. However, this calabash is a clear miracle of Allah.”

I can imagine the reaction to this in the Muslim world oscillating between excitement and a compulsion to call the modesty police.

Suddenly, a new term is foisted on us without serious debate or proof and we are supposed to rejoice at the triumphs of those now called “moderate Islamists.” The problem here is not just that I don’t believe such a thing exists but that no case can be made that it does. The tactics of some Islamists (participate in elections, advance slowly) are being confused with principles (impose Sharia law, overthrow all non-Islamist governments, defeat the infidels).

I’d contend that “Islamism” doesn’t exist.

Muslims, like the PM of Turkey, know that Islam is inherently political, so Islamism is an artificial construct by post Christian westerners who are the product of a thousand years of increasing separation of Church and state. It’s an intellectual crutch to avoid facing the awful truth about the nature of Islam (a truth that, thank God, the vast majority of Muslims never learn).

Islam has never successfully separated it’s personal religious observances from it’s political desire to (eventually) conquer and rule the world. And the one place it made any progress in this somewhat recently, Turkey, has just been bungeed back 400 years while the press and the pundits were looking at Libya, Kimberly Noel “Kim” Kardashian or Occupy Some Street.

There can no more be a moderate Islamism than there can be a moderate world conquest. Get over it. And of course, who can forget the “radical wing” of the Nazi Party that Hitler had to work to keep on board from his position in the “moderate” centre!

Is an Israeli life really more important than a Turks?

Israel’s provision of aid to Turkey in the wake of a devastating earthquake tacitly acknowledges acceptance of that obscene idea.

While Israel would argue they are doing it because it is the humanitarian thing to do, it is clear from the J… – ehh I mean Israelis – concept of “chosenness” that they are doing it to make the Turks look mean and uncharitable in comparison. And it seems to be working.

By acting with this “better than thou” attitude, the Israelis are basically thumbing their noses at the Turkish people and, actually, the entire world.

At the same time, however, there is something abject in their eagerness to offer humanitarian aid that tacitly acknowledges what so many Zionists believe – that their unfortunate neighbors are a great source of organs for harvesting, and the lives of the chosen are of hugely greater consequence.

If you don’t understand why this qualifies for Headline of the Day, I suggest you familarize yourself with the concept of the “Turkey slap.”

The question is did the Jerusalem Post choose this wording on purpose, or are they really so clueless?

The U.N. has placed as many as half a dozen security guards on administrative duty pending an investigation into their involvement in a violent brawl on Friday with the security detail for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.N. sources told Turtle Bay.

The melee began after the Turkish prime minister was blocked by U.N. security guards as he sought to walk from a meeting room outside the General Assembly hall to the General Assembly chamber, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was preparing to deliver his historic speech announcing plans to declare its bid for membership in the United Nations as a state.

The brawl, which landed at least one U.N. official in the hospital with badly bruised ribs, involved a misunderstanding over the route Erdogan and his entourage took to reach the General Assembly, officials said. The exit they were trying to proceed through, according to U.N. officials and sources close to the Turkish delegation, didn’t actually lead to the General Assembly. But Erdogan and his security staff insisted on pressing ahead.

It remains unclear exactly what happened next, but a Turkish journalist, Kahraman Haliscelik, of Turkish Radio Television (TRT), said two of his colleagues, who were traveling with the Prime Minister, claimed that U.N.  guards threatened “to stop them with force,” and that the two sides began pushing. “There was some physical contact with the prime minister and so that set off the Turkish security” agents, Haliscelik said.

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But the U.N.’s response to the incident has infuriated U.N. rank and file security guards, according to several U.N. sources, who claim that the Turkish security agents have bullied their way around the Turtle Bay headquarters during the General Assembly session.

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The email, which was written by the second vice president of the U.N. Staff Union, Timothy J. Kennedy, and obtained by Turtle Bay, said the “entire Security and Safety Service has been dealing with the aggressive nature of the security apparatus of this particular detail all week long. It has shoved many officers, fraudulently utilized ministerial ID’s for access, and assaulted at least one of our officers (previously, as well as today). I have advised our officers who’ve been injured and/or assaulted to make police reports to the 17th [precinct], and have themselves checked at the hospital; as well as take picture of their injuries.”

Sounds to me like the Turkish security have been acting like thugs, and an apology is in order. 

Meanwhile, on a more positive note, Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club has written the following letter to thank UEFA, the Turkish team they recently played, as well as Turkish authorities.