Turkish media reported with five days delay that the representatives of Fatah and Hamas, along with other Palestinian factions, met in Ankara last Saturday to participate in a meeting ahead of establishing a unity government.
“There were 37 representatives from different Palestinian political parties attending the meeting and discussing the recent Palestinian reconciliation agreement. A second meeting will be held in June, possibly in Istanbul,” a diplomat from the Palestinian Embassy to Turkey told Hurriyet Daily News. "Implementing reconciliation mechanisms between Fatah and Hamas were discussed in the meeting", the official said.
The representatives of Hamas and Fatah also had another meeting with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials, the diplomat said. The Turkish Foreign Ministry held a reception and gave the opening speech.
Turkish officials said that it was the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a veteran negotiator who has played a leading role in peace deals in several regions of the world, who had asked the Turkish government to host the conference.
Following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s initial call for help in establishing a unity government, Turkey moved to build a dialogue between the two groups in April. Ankara had proposed Abbas to hold a meeting in Istanbul with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to resolve their differences. However, the reconciliation was reached in Egypt.
Fatah representatives attending the meeting in Ankara on Saturday were Eshref Cuma, deputy from Palestinian parliament, Usama El Farra, Han Yunus mayor, Macit Abu Semmare, while Hamas representatives were PM Hanniya’s advisor Ahmed Yusuf, deputies Yahya Musa, Ismail El Askar and Huda Naim, the Palestinian Embassy official told Hurriyet Daily News.
Source: Hurriyet Daily News, May 26, 2011
