Turkey's new opposition leader: 'What Hamas did was an act of terror'

Özgür Özel of blasts Hamas as a terrorist organization on TV interview

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Turkish opposition leader Özgür Özel, who heads the Republican People’s Party (CHP), condemned Hamas as a terrorist organization during a TV interview on Saturday.

"Hamas rains bombs on innocent people in the middle of the night, with balloons, drones, and I don't know what else," Özel said. He condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and massacre of 1,200 Israelis that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.

"You must see that this issue started there [with Hamas]. What Hamas did was an act of terror. Hamas fired bombs at sleeping Jews in the middle of the night," the opposition leader emphasized.

In November, Özel officially replaced Kemal Kilicdaroglu as the leader of the political opposition in Turkey.

Özel’s condemnation of Hamas contrasts sharply with the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has expressed support for the terror group and referred to it as a legitimate political actor.

Just weeks after the Hamas terror attack, Erdoğan denied that Hamas is a terrorist organization and to date, has never condemned Hamas terrorists for the atrocities committed during and after the attack.

“Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation group, mujahideen waging a battle to protect its lands and people,” Erdoğan claimed. In addition, several high-ranking Hamas officials reportedly reside in Istanbul, Turkey's economic and cultural hub.

Erdoğan has also made statements showing his lack of support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and derogatory statements against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Turkish leader has been facing growing opposition at home due to a struggling domestic economy and criticism of the government’s mishandling of last year’s lethal earthquake. However, the political opposition failed to unseat Erdoğan in the national elections in 2023.

Prior to Erdoğan’s rise to power, Turkey and Israel enjoyed close commercial, military and security ties.