Turkey declares national day of mourning for slain Hamas leader

(Patria) - Turkey will observe a national day of mourning today for the funeral in Qatar of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Reuters reported.

"Friday will be declared a national day of mourning in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters," Erdogan said on social media platform X, calling Haniyeh a "martyr."

Erdogan on Wednesday condemned the "treacherous murder" of his close ally and "brother" Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas.

"May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, who fell as a martyr," Erdogan wrote on X, denouncing "Zionist barbarism."

Haniyeh last visited Erdogan in Istanbul in April. The United States, the European Union and Israel view Hamas as a terrorist organization, while Erdogan calls it a "liberation movement."

Thousands of people marched in Istanbul on Wednesday to condemn the death of Haniyeh, who was killed along with his bodyguard in Tehran early Wednesday in an attack blamed on Israel, which has not commented on the allegations.

A plane carrying his body landed in Doha on Thursday after a public funeral in Iran attended by a crowd of mourners paying their respects, Qatari network Al Jazeera reported.

Qatar, which hosted Hamas's political bureau, including Haniyeh, with the blessing of the United States, has been involved in months of ongoing talks to mediate an end to the war in Gaza, together with Egypt and with U.S. support.