Erdogan sees Hamas as a political party, pleased over reconciliation with Al Fatah

WASHINGTON (A.A) - 12.05.2011 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he considered Hamas as a political party or a resistance movement instead of a terrorist organization and he added that he was pleased over the recent reconciliation between Hamas and Al Fatah.
Erdogan appeared on Bloomberg TV on Thursday and gave an exclusive interview to Charlie Rose.
Erdogan said the recent reconciliation deal signed between Palestinian groups Hamas and Al Fatah was something he wanted to see for years. 
"I have exerted great efforts to unite Al Fatah and Hamas over the past years during my term in office and now I am very happy to see that happen," Erdogan said.
"If peace would come to the Middle East, it would start from peace in Palestine," he said.
Erdogan described Hamas as a resistance movement and a political party defending its occupied country, adding that it should not be named a terrorist organization. He said Hamas was a democratically elected political party.
Erdogan also repeated his call for Israel to apologize to Turkey over Gaza flotilla raid and he demanded compensation. Erdogan urged Israel to lift the embargo on Gaza.
On Syria unrest, Erdogan recalled that Syrian President Bashar al Assad was a good friend of his and that he talked to Assad a year ago about the release of political prisoners in Syria, change in election system, lifting the ban on political parties and ending the state of emergency in the country.
However, Erdogan said, Assad was a little bit late to take those steps.
"I hope he takes these steps immediately and integrates with his people, because every time I visit Syria, I can see people's love for Assad," he said.
Erdogan added the domina effect came to Syria as Assad was late to take necessary steps.
Erdogan rejected allegations that Turkey had changed its traditional western-oriented foreign policy for a new high-profile appearance in the Middle East and the Black Sea area.
"Turkey's developing relations with Muslim countries and its relations with the European Union are two separate things. There is no shift of axis in Turkey's foreign policy," he said.
The Turkish premier said other European countries such as France, Germany and Britain have deeper relations with Muslim countries than Turkey does, complaining that those ties went unquestioned while Turkey's relations with Muslim nations are criticized.
"For instance, the West is greatly involved with Iran than Turkey actually is. They have business investments there, financial interests as well as indirect commercial ties," Erdogan said.    
He said Turkey's foreign policy aims at maintaining good relations with all countries, adding, however, that the European Union has failed to honor its promises to Turkey. 
"There is a black campaign underway against Turkey, which aims at destroying our country resolute bid to become a member of the EU. The anti-Turkey stance in the EU is especially pumped by France and Germany. If you do not want us in, then you should declare that openly," he said.
Erdogan said there are five million Turks living and working in Europe, adding that Turkey is already a part of the European Union.
"We have met a large part of the EU's economic and political criteria. Turning a blind eye on Turkey, which is the sixth biggest economy in Europe, is a problematic issue for the EU leadership," he said.