ISTANBUL -- Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Hamas a "liberation group" and Israel a "war criminal" during a massive pro-Palestine rally staged by his religiously conservative ruling party in Istanbul on Saturday.
"Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation group, mujahedeen waging a battle to protect its land and people," he said during the rally attended by hundreds of thousands of people, pointing to Israel's occupation Palestinian territories. Turkey had earlier volunteered to mediate between Hamas and the Israeli government.
