Turkey hosts Hamas official calling for the destruction of Israel, armaments of the Qassam brigades

A high official of Hamas, supported by the Islamist government of turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, openly called on the Turks to provide weapons and financial support for the jihadist group campaign and its ultimate objective of destroying Israel.

Marwan Muhammad Abu Ras, a high -ranking figure of Hamas with a significant influence in the ideological and religious spheres of the organization, has spent considerable time in Turkey in recent months to promote the cause of Hamas.

Turkish officials warmly welcomed it, providing public platforms on the state -controlled media to disseminate Hamas propaganda and help it forge links with radical Islamist networks aligned by the government, including Turkish Hizbullah and the Foundation of Human Rights and Humanitarian Freedoms (NSAN Hak Ve Hrriyetleri yardmf, or hrriyetleri

On April 20, Abu Ras appeared as the honor speaker during a large rally organized in Diyarbakr, a province with a Kurdish predominantly population in southeast Turkey. Addressing an energized crowd, he said: The Qassam brigades are at the forefront of the war and the jihad. You must support Qassam brigades with your prayers, your wealth, your policy, your weapons, with everything you have, you must support the Qassam brigades.

The Qassam brigades, the Hamas military wing, were responsible for the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and more than 250 kidnappings. The aggression sparked vast Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, leading to the death of more than 50,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

However, the loss of human life does not seem to disturb Hamas, which seems determined to capitalize on peoples suffering from maintaining its militant organization which continues to receive the support of Turkey, Qatar and Iran.

Many Hamas leaders have settled in Türkiye with their families, some acquiring Turkish citizenship and passports while investing in the property and by operating companies of several million dollars, in particular in real estate. They also actively participate in campaigns to collect funds for Hamass Global Network.

The event in Diyarbakr was one of the many authorized to proceed under the Erdogan government. It was organized by Peygamber Sevdallar Vakf (Lovers of the Prophet Foundation), an organization head on for the Hizbullah turkey a group with a long history of extremism and a political alliance with the Erdoganian ruling party.

Although he was appointed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, most of the hizbullahs convicted members have been released from prison in the last decade, a widely attributed development to the continuous political alliance of Erdogans with the group.

Abu Ras also participated in another rally on April 27 in Istanbul, once again organized by groups affiliated with Hizbullah. Sharing the scene with Zekeriya Yapcolu, the Hizbullahs political wing, HR Dava Partii (Free cause party, or hda-par), Abu ras reiterated Hamass to the armed resistance. Yapcolu and Erdogan have frequently campaigned together, HDA-by being part of the wider electoral coalition of Erdogans.

In an interview with the Hizbullah Media Outlet LKHA on April 24, Abu Ras predicted a possible fall in Israel, despite the current challenges that Hamas is confronted. We firmly believe that victory will come with the help of God. Despite the betrayal of the Arab states and the traps of America, this conspiracy approaches its end. The end of Israel is close, God wants, he said.

He also underlined his longtime personal ties with the senior leaders of Hamas. Abu Ras has maintained close links with emblematic figures of Hamas such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. For the first time, he met Yassin, founder of Spiritual Hamass who was murdered in March 2004, in his youth in the 1970s. He was active in the first initiatives of the groups and was even present during an Israeli air strike in 2003 which bad little to kill him Yassin at Abu Rass.

He said how Haniyeh, who was going to lead Hamas before being murdered in 2024, was a student leader at the Islamic University of Gaza when Abu Ras returned as a speaker in 1986 after completing his studies in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. ABU RAS appeared on the Haniyehs electoral list in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. Like Haniyeh, Sinwar who succeeded him was also one of the students of Abu Rass, with whom he remained in frequent contact, in particular during the mandate of the Sinwars who directs Hamas operations in Gaza.

Abu Ras currently directs the Palestinian Scholars Association in Gaza, an organization which now extends to Türkiye thanks to a series of conferences. The first event, which was held on April 12 in Istanbul under the title of Birini Trkiye Limler Konferans (first Turkey Scholars conference), was sponsored by the religious authority of the state of Turkeys, the Diyanet. This influential institution, which manages a budget of several billion dollars and oversees around 90,000 mosques in Türkiye and abroad, provides significant legitimacy and support in Hamas thanks to its approval.

In addition to its religious roles, Abu Ras is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and chairs the Committee of Jerusalem and Palestine of the International Union of Muslim scholars, a global organization linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and founded in 2006 by the late Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a clerk deeply admired by Erdogan.

Under the government of Erdogan, Turkey has become a sanctuary for Hamas agents, providing them with state protection, logistical support and access to banking and financial systems that facilitate fund transfer. Many Hamas members have established commercial companies in Türkiye, in particular in the booming real estate sector, generating substantial income. Some have even acquired Turkish citizenship, often changing their name in the process, while others have obtained long -term residence permits to settle in the country.

President Erdogan has long defended Hamas, referring to his fighters as warriors of the resistance engaged in a legitimate struggle to release occupied land. It frequently welcomes senior delegations from Hamas to its presidential complex in Ankara, promising continuous support.

Erdogan has also labeled Israel as the number one turkey threats to national security an unprecedented position in the history of the Turkish Republic and went so far as to assert that Hamas helps to protect Turkish territorial integrity from a greater Israeli conspiracy to annex parts of Turkey as part of a larger scheme of Israel.

In recent years, the US Treasury has sanctioned several people and companies in Türkiye linked to Hamass Financial Network. More recent repression has targeted an cryptocurrency operation affiliated with Hamas in Türkiye, marking the first action of this type pursued by the American authorities against the financing of Hamas on Turkish soil.