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From the Liveblog of Monday, October 23, 2023

Ankara officially denies booting Hamas chief over October 7 massacres

By Lazar Berman

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23 October 2023, 4:58 pm Edit

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas terrorist movement chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool/ File)

Turkey officially denies reports that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was kicked out of the country by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The allegations that ‘Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered senior Hamas officials to leave Turkey immediately’ are completely false,” tweets the Center for Combating Disinformation, an office subordinate to the Turkish Presidency.

“Do not believe the baseless and false claims.”

Al-Monitor journalist Fehim Tastekin earlier claimed that the Qatar- and Turkey-based Haniyeh was visiting Turkey on October 7 and was “politely sent away” by Turkish authorities as details of Hamas’s barbarism against Israeli civilians emerged, along with a video that showed Haniyeh offering a thanksgiving prayer for the atrocities.