Türkiye on Wednesday condemned the “heinous” assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
Hamas earlier said its political leader Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran, where he had been attending the inauguration of the county’s new president. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also present at the ceremony.
“The attack shows the Netanyahu government has no intention of achieving peace,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“This assassination aims to spread the war in Gaza to a regional level,” it warned. “Unless the international community moves to stop Israel, our region will face much larger conflicts.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also announced the death, saying Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran was “hit” and he was killed along with a bodyguard.
Iranian media said it was an air-launched missile that killed Haniyeh in one of the special residences for war veterans in north Tehran.
Haniyeh was a frequent visitor to Türkiye, which has been a vocal critic of Israel’s massacres in Palestine since Oct. 7, 2023, in response to an offensive by Hamas and stands among few countries recognizing his group as a resistance movement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also pioneers efforts for reconciliation between Hamas and al-Fatah, which retains the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah. Just recently, he hosted Haniyeh and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for rare high-level talks on the matter.
