Türkiye hands over requests from some countries to Hamas for release of hostages

The head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, Ibrahim Kalin, has held talks with the leaders of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas, Report informs referring to Turkish media.

Türkiye forwarded requests from a number of countries to the movement for the release of hostages.

Ankara’s request was communicated to the military wing of Hamas in Gaza through internal communication channels, and it was guaranteed that among the hostages to be released there would be both Israeli citizens and citizens of third countries.

“Over the course of six weeks, Kalin held four meetings with Hamas: one in Doha, two in Ankara and one in Istanbul. During these meetings, Hamas was asked to release civilian hostages as a first step. It was stated that this step would ease the situation for the participant countries, especially Türkiye, who are making efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire and provide humanitarian assistance. As part of this work, personal meetings were held with the heads of Hamas political bureaus in Qatar,” the media reported.

On behalf of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the country’s ambassador in Doha also took part in the negotiations.