Tel Aviv: Israel has been angered by the Turkish flag being flown at half-mast at the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered his ministry to summon Turkey’s deputy ambassador to the country and issue a stern reprimand.
“Israel will not tolerate the expression of condolence for a murderer like Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas in attacking Israel on October 7 last year and wished the murderers success while watching the horrific images on television with his colleagues,” Katz said in a post.
“If embassy representatives want to mourn, they should go to Turkey and mourn with their President Erdogan, who embraces the terrorist organisation Hamas and supports its terrorist activities,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared August 2 as “national mourning” over the killing of Hamas’ political bureau chief Haniyeh.
Erdogan said, “To show our support for the Palestinian cause and to show solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters, tomorrow (Friday, August 2) has been declared a day of national mourning due to the martyrdom of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.”
The Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv also lowered the national flag at its embassy to show solidarity with Hamas supporters. Haniyeh was assassinated along with one of his bodyguards at his residence in Tehran when he was in the Iranian capital Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Turkey has also banned Instagram in its country. The Turkish Digital Information and Communications Regulatory Authority (BTK) announced the ban on Friday.
BTK chief Fahrettin Altun had accused Instagram of preventing Turkish citizens from posting condolence messages on the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.