Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday pushed back against mounting US pressure to cut Ankara’s historic ties with Hamas in the wake of the militants’ unprecedented attacks on Israel.
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.
Under Secretary Brian Nelson said Washington has not detected any money passing through Turkey to Hamas since the Gaza war broke out eight weeks ago.
But he argued that Ankara had helped Hamas access funding in the past and should now use local laws to clamp down on potential future transfers.