When Israel & Turkey Co-operated: West Jerusalem Asks Ankara for Help with Hamas
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 8:28 | Ali Yenidunya in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
A document from January 2010, released by WikiLeaks, details a meeting between Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.
Turkey was attempting to establish a dialogue between Syria and Israel at the time. Barak delivered his Cabinet's doubts on the rapprochment; however, he had a new request for Davutoglu: talk to the Palestinian organisation Hamas, both directly and through Syria, to urge the group to accept Israel's offer for the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit.
In a week when Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to punish Turkey by supporting the Kurdish insurgency PKK, this is a useful reminder of public illusions and private politics --- even as Israel criticised Ankara's acceptance of Hamas as a legitimate political force, it was trying to take advantage of Turkey's relationship with the Gazan leadership.
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