Relatives of the Israeli hostages captured by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas have reportedly contacted Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan to ask him for help in their release, according to recent reports in Turkish media. This is what emerges from a letter sent on 3 November, reported by the Turkish channel CNN Türk and signed by Meyrav Lesham Gonen and Malki Shem-Tov, the mother and father of two of the hostages held by Hamas, respectively.
“We, the families of the kidnapped Israelis who have been held hostage by Hamas since 7 October, write to you to request your humanitarian intervention in this crisis,” the letter reads. “As the leader of one of the great powers in the region, with enormous influence in the Middle East, the Muslim world and beyond, we believe you are in a unique position to be of immeasurable help,” it continues, addressing Erdoğan. In the missive, the relatives appeal to Erdoğan, “at the deepest humanitarian level, to do everything in your power to obtain proof of life from the hostages, to facilitate all their medical needs without delay, and to bring about their immediate release.”
Earlier this month, Erdoğan assured during a summit of the Arab League and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation that Turkey is willing to intervene in the hostage crisis, but that this would imply that Israel would have to be willing to release Palestinians in prison in exchange for Israelis captured by Hamas, which for its part has said it´s ready to make such an exchange. “If positive steps are taken, we are ready to take any risk and contribute to resolving this issue. In the last month, Israel has detained some 2,000 people in the West Bank; Hamas is mainly demanding the release of Palestinian detainees (…), especially women and children“, said the Turkish president.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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