GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — We were at an iftar dinner under photographs of Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela, and Ahmad Saadet, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who has spent his life in Israeli prisons. Not all were fasting, but all were there to share the iftar feast of garlic-flavored hummus, chicken and rice offered by PFLP Radio Ash Shaab. The food was great but the subjects discussed were too heavy.

We are on the 10th floor of a building from which we could see the border with Israel in the east and the Mediterranean in the west. Talking with Zulfikar Shiverjo, the Gaza leader of the PFLP, about the cease-fire initiatives to end the clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, I asked about the role of Turkey. He replied, “Turkey has no other role than to persuade Hamas to accept the American and Israeli demands.” When I reminded him that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was one of the most vocal world leaders about Gaza, he interrupted me, saying, ”He is a liar.” He went on to explain his harsh reasoning:

“Turkey is trying to create a sphere of influence for itself. It is using the Middle East as a card to show the EU that Turkey has an alternative. If Turkey ever becomes a full EU member, it will forget the Palestinian issue. Turkey always had close political, military and economic ties with Israel. Its trade with Israel grew four-fold ever since the Davos episode [when Erdogan denounced then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and walked off the stage]. The Erdogan government is using Gaza for its own interests. The Palestine policies of Iran and Turkey are alike. They are exploiting Hamas to boost their own standing in the region. If Iran solves its nuclear crisis with the West, it will push Palestine to the back burner.”

These stinging remarks might confuse those who look at Turkey from Hamas’ perspective. According Shiverjo, Turkish and Qatari support for Hamas helped perpetuate the political division of Palestine. He said, “That policy has worked for the past seven years. With Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank, Palestinian political unity has been split.”