ISTANBUL, Aug. 2 The Turkish flag was lowered on Friday at the country's diplomatic missions in Israel to mark the mourning of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli operation, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared national mourning on Friday following the assassination of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
«As part of the national mourning for the murdered Ismail Haniyeh, flags are lowered over the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate general in Jerusalem,» the agency writes.
Turkey has announced a complete cessation of trade with Israel since May, and it will resume only after a ceasefire is ensured in the Gaza Strip. All Israeli diplomats, including the ambassador, left Turkey at the end of October, and the Turkish ambassador was recalled from Tel Aviv in November 2023.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Hamas movement reported the death of its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president. The movement blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh's death and said the attack would not go unanswered.
On Wednesday evening, the New York Times, citing sources, claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to Haniyeh's killing in Tehran. Later, Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeed Irwani told the Security Council that Tehran, in accordance with international law, reserves the right to self-defense to respond to Haniyeh's killing whenever it deems it necessary. He also said that the killing would not have happened without US intelligence support for Israel. Iran's mission to the UN also called on the Security Council to impose sanctions on Israel for acts of aggression.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called the death of Haniyeh an absolutely unacceptable political assassination that threatens further escalation in the region.