ANKARA: Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya received a warm welcome on Tuesday from lawmakers of Turkey's ruling party during a visit to the Turkish parliament.
The Palestinian leader received a standing ovation from the ranks of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for his surprise entry into the room as the prime minister was making his weekly address to his fellow deputies.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was praising intra-Palestinian reconciliation between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas governing Gaza as Haniya headed into the room.
Haniya, who also met with the leaders of Turkey's opposition parties, declined to speak to the press but made a "V" for victory sign to the cameras.
An aide told AFP that Haniya would return to Istanbul late on Tuesday and fly on to Tunisia on Wednesday as part of his first trip abroad since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007.
Haniya has already visited Egypt and Sudan on a tour which his office said was aimed primarily at seeking aid to rebuild Gaza City.
The Gaza premier arrived in Turkey on Sunday for a meeting with Erdogan in Istanbul. In a symbolic visit, on Monday he toured a Turkish vessel stormed by Israeli troops in a raid that left nine activists dead in May 2010.
The incident led a furious Turkey to downgrade relations with Israel, a one-time ally, and Ankara is seeking an apology and compensation for the victims before it restores full ties.
Since 2007, the Palestinian territories have been politically divided into two separate territories, with Abbas's Fatah largely ruling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza.
Turkey has sought to mediate in reconciliation efforts between the Fatah faction and Hamas, despite Israeli ire over its contacts with the Islamist movement.
Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if Hamas is excluded from the process.
Erdogan has rejected the "terrorist label" for the Islamist group, insisting its members are "resistance fighters struggling to defend their land".