Israel Slams Turkey for National Mourning of Slain Hamas Leader

In yet another blow to bilateral relations, Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, declared August 2 a national day of mourning for the slain leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, following his assassination by Israel in Tehran on July 31..The controversial decision that sparked another diplomatic spat between Ankara and Tel Aviv came against the backdrop of Erdogan's threat against the Jewish state on July 28, speaking at a conference of his AKP (Justice and Development) Party:."We must be very strong so that Israel can't do these things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong.".Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, known for his brand of "Twitter diplomacy," took on the platform to decry President Erdogan's threat of war and decision to honor the assassinated Hamas leader by ordering the Turkish flags to fly at half-mast across the country and diplomatic missions abroad:.The Turkish ambassador in Tel Aviv was summoned by Israel's Foreign Ministry for a reprimand over the embassy's flag flying at half-mast as Katz hinted at a diplomatic expulsion, suggesting that if embassy personnel wanted to mourn for Haniyeh they could return to Ankara to "mourn alongside their master, Erdogan.".A Spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Öncü Keçeli, quickly fired back proclaiming that peace for Israel would remain unattainable "by killing negotiators and threatening diplomats.".Predictably, however, Erdogan's decision to honor Haniyeh was met with strong criticism from nationalist and far-right members of the opposition who viewed the presidential decree as an arbitrary imposition of will upon the nation..The Ceremony.A memorial service for Haniyeh was held yesterday in Hagia Sophia, the 6th-century Orthodox Christian cathedral that Erdogan's government had turned into a mosque in 2020 by presidential decree in a deliberate break with Kemalist secularist tradition and its operation as a museum since 1934..Despite initial reports that Erdogan would attend yesterday's memorial ceremony, held simultaneously with Haniyeh's funeral in Doha, the Turkish President was absent. A sermon was instead delivered during the Friday prayer by the country's President of Religious Affairs..A high-level diplomatic delegation, that included Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, and chief of Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), Ibrahim Kalin, was also reportedly dispatched to Doha on Friday. The former held talks with senior Hamas member Khaled Meshaal, expressing condolences over Haniyeh's killing with the Foreign Ministry suggesting that Haniyeh's sons were also in attendance..Fahrettin Altun, the head of the Turkish Communications Directorate, additionally confirmed that Erdogan had personally offered his condolences to the Hamas leader's wife and children over a telephone call while posting on X to honor Haniyeh as a "martyr."