Editing Hamas (section)

===Erdoğan's Turkey as a role model===
Some Hamas members have stated that the model of Islamic government that Hamas seeks to emulate is that of Turkey under the rule of [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]]. The foremost members to distance Hamas from the practices of the Taliban and to publicly support the Erdoğan model were [[Ahmed Yousef]] and [[Ghazi Hamad]], advisers to Prime Minister Hanieh.<ref name="Sayigh">[http://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/meb/MEB41.pdf Hamas Rule in Gaza: Three Years On] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402221410/http://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/meb/MEB41.pdf |date=2 April 2012 }}, [[Yezid Sayigh]], Crown Center for Middle East studies, March 2010</ref><ref>See also: [http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/letters-from/letter-from-gaza?page=show Letter from Gaza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627013735/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/letters-from/letter-from-gaza?page=show |date=27 June 2010 }}, Hamas's tunnel diplomacy, By Thanassis Cambanis, 18 June 2010. Foreign Affairs. "They want to know if we are more like the Taliban or Erdogan. They will see that we are closer to Erdogan."</ref> Yusuf, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, reflected this goal in an interview with a Turkish newspaper, stating that while foreign public opinion equates Hamas with the Taliban or [[al-Qaeda]], the analogy is inaccurate. Yusuf described the Taliban as "opposed to everything", including education and women's rights, while Hamas wants to establish good relations between the religious and secular elements of society and strives for human rights, democracy and an open society.<ref>[http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=box-2010-06-10 Hamas: 'We want Erdoğan's model, not Taliban's'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810222815/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=box-2010-06-10 |date=10 August 2011 }}. Cansu Çamlibel, ''The Daily [[Hurriyet]]''. 10 June 2010</ref> According to professor [[Yezid Sayigh]] of [[King's College London|King's College]] in London, how influential this view is within Hamas is uncertain, since both Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad were dismissed from their posts as advisers to Hamas Prime Minister [[Ismail Hanieh]] in October 2007.<ref name="Sayigh"/> Both have since been appointed to other prominent positions within the Hamas government. Khaled al-Hroub of the West Bank-based and anti-Hamas<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/world/middleeast/21mideast.html A Leader of Hamas Warns of West Bank Peril for Fatah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425004712/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/world/middleeast/21mideast.html |date=25 April 2009 }} ''The New York Times''. 21 June 2006. "Mr. Sawaf's West Bank office in Ramallah has been destroyed, and the Palestinian paper ''Al Ayyam'' has refused to continue printing his paper in the West Bank."</ref> Palestinian daily ''Al Ayyam'' added that despite claims by Hamas leaders that it wants to repeat the Turkish model of Islam, "what is happening on the ground in reality is a replica of the Taliban model of Islam."<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hamas-Gaza-extremism.-a0211366448 Hamas-Gaza-extremism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123164955/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hamas-Gaza-extremism.-a0211366448 |date=23 November 2023 }}, ''The Weekly Middle East Reporter'' (Beirut, Lebanon), 8 August 2009</ref><ref name="Reuters Erdogan">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-says-hamas-is-not-terrorist-organisation-2023-10-25/ |title=Turkey's Erdogan says Hamas is not terrorist organisation, cancels trip to Israel |date=25 October 2023 |work=Reuters |last1=Gumrukcu |first1=Tuvan |last2=Hayatsever |first2=Huseyin |access-date=26 October 2023 |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110142510/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-says-hamas-is-not-terrorist-organisation-2023-10-25/ |url-status=live }}</ref>