Turkish PM, Hamas leader meet

ANKARA - The Associated Press

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Mimar Sinan mosque in Istanbul July 20, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

State-run television says Turkey’s prime minister has met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to break the daily fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
 
TRT television says Wednesday that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Mashaal at his residence in Ankara on Tuesday evening.

Ties between Turkey, NATO’s biggest Muslim member, and the Islamic militant Hamas, which rules Gaza, have been developing since Turkey’s alliance with Israel collapsed over a deadly raid by Israeli troops on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza in 2010.

In January, Hamas premier of the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Erdogan at his Istanbul home.