Hamas isn’t a terror group, Erdogan tells his Greek counterpart

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Monday that he was saddened that Greece deems Hamas to be a terrorist organization.

In a joint press conference held in the Turkish captial of Ankara, Erdogan told reporters that he considered Hamas to be a “resistance organization”.

“Hamas isn’t a terror group, it is an insurgent group that is trying to protect its territories that have been occupied since 1947,” Erdogan said.

In response, Mitsotakis said that his country and Turkey cannot agree on all the issues related to the Gaza war except that  a long-term ceasefire is needed.

“Let’s agree to disagree,” Mitsotakis said to Erdogan.

Earlier on Monday Israeli sources told Middle East Eye reported that Israel began to send back its diplomats to Turkey earlier this month, half a year after it withdrew them over security concerns.