'Hamas is a reality of Palestine': Turkey's Erdogan refuses to cut ties with terror group

The US Treasury's top terrorism financing official conveyed Washington's 'profound' alarm about Ankara's past relations with Hamas during a visit to Turkey this week

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to cut ties with Hamas under US pressure in the wake of the terror group’s attacks on Israel.

“First of all, Hamas is a reality of Palestine, it is a political party there and it entered the elections as a political party and won,” Erdogan said in remarks released by his office.

The US Treasury’s top terrorism financing official conveyed Washington’s “profound” alarm about Ankara’s past relations with Hamas during a visit to Turkey this week.