Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has implied that Turkey was responsible for Hamas’ alleged preparations for a coup against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “Turkey is playing a cynical game,” Ya’alon told US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Oct. 21, criticizing Turkey for the support it provides to Hamas. “Hamas moved its terror headquarters from Damascus to Istanbul, in Turkey, a NATO member, where it is represented by Saleh al-Arouri, who orchestrates terrorist attacks against Israel from there and attempted to instigate a coup against Mahmoud Abbas in Judea and Samaria.”
Fadi al-Husseini, Palestinian Embassy spokesman in Ankara, however, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian side has no knowledge of any Hamas coup preparations against Abbas. “We also heard about this alleged coup preparation from the media. The Israeli media also link the death of three Israeli teenagers to Arouri, but there is so far no evidence that Hamas was involved in these incidents,” Husseini said.
