Aygul Tagiyeva, commentator of Trend's Middle East desk
Following the agreement between Israel and Hamas on exchange of POWs, part of the freed Palestinians arrived in Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Qatar. However, unlike Jordan, Syria and Qatar, Turkey is not an Arab country, and in principle, has no reason to harbor yesterday's prisoners in Israeli prisons. Then why did Palestinian prisoners, including the founder of "Al-Qassam" - the military wing of Hamas and other activists, come in handy for Turkey?
If to look at Turkey's foreign policy priorities in the last period, it is possible to see that Turkey pursues a policy of rapprochement with the Arab countries aimed at strengthening its leadership in the region.
Turkey welcomed the democratic reforms in Arab countries and is an active regulator of the regional crisis. It has certainly promoted Turkey's image among Arabs that has been observed recently during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's official visit to the Arab countries of North Africa, which survived the revolution.
Sheltering 11 former Palestinian prisoners, Ankara emphasizes its support for Palestine in the Arab-Israeli conflict and remembers its role in reaching an agreement on exchange of POWs. Vice Prime Minister of Turkey Bulent Arinc has already made a statement in which he mentioned Turkey's important role in the agreement.
Arrival of the Palestinians will surely increase Turkey's credibility amongst the Arab countries, and Ankara will hear the expected "bravo" from both the Palestinian Authority, and from all Arab countries.
But it is impossible to forget the fact that the presence of former Palestinian prisoners in Turkey will disturb Israel, which now has not best relations with Turkey.
It is possible to assume that Tel Aviv will not leave unattended the Hamas members in Turkey and will demand a report on their actions. Members of Hamas, in their turn, are unlikely to sit idly, and will likely continue their anti-Israel activities now from Turkey, for which Tel Aviv will blame Ankara.
Such a situation may also lead to further aggravation of the Israeli-Turkish relations and the constant presence of the elements of Israel's national security forces in Turkey.
It needs not to forget that Turkey's opposition, which is looking for the slightest reason to criticize the authorities, can use the presence of Palestinian prisoners in the country for the next attack on the government, which in turn can lead to certain weakening of Erdogan government's position in domestic policy.
Given those said, we can conclude that Turkey is mainly aimed at strengthening its leadership in the region. Maybe Ankara thought other uses of the former Palestinian prisoners, for example, to create a balance with Syria, where the political bureau of Hamas is present.
As for the problems inside the country, which may arise because of the Palestinians, we can suppose that Erdogan's government already has a clear plan of action to prevent their occurrence.