Turkey honors the slain Hamas leader with a national day of mourning, recognizing his contributions and sacrifice.
On Friday, Turkey lowered its flags to half-mast both within the country and at international embassies in observance of a national day of mourning for Ismail Haniyeh – Hamas’ political leader.
Israel has been accused of being responsible for his assassination in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, according to Tehran and other neighboring countries.
There has been no confirmation or denial from Israel regarding their involvement in his demise.
It had promised to assassinate him and other Hamas officials due to the group’s assault on Israel in October of last year. This attack resulted in over 1,200 Israelis losing their lives and more than 250 being held captive.
Israel reprimanded the deputy Turkish ambassador on Friday, following Turkey’s embassy in Tel Aviv lowering its flag.
Hamas is regarded as a terrorist organization by Israel and several other Western countries, but Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often refers to the group as a “liberation movement.”
A presidential decree was issued for flags to be lowered at half-mast on Friday, while also condemning the murder of Haniyeh as a reprehensible act.
On Friday, access to Instagram was blocked by Turkey in the meantime.
Despite the absence of a reason, numerous media outlets reported that the action was taken following removals by the social networking site of messages conveying sympathies on Haniyeh’s death.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, where over 39,000 Palestinians lost their lives, relations between Israel and Turkey have undergone a significant deterioration.
