( Turkishdailynews ) - Having been disturbed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoрan's invitation to Palestine's new Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah of Hamas, Israel's deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has cancelled his trip to Ankara scheduled for April 3.
The Turkish government's efforts to contact Hamas is strongly criticized by Israel and the Jewish lobby in the United States. Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi went to the Turkish Foreign Ministry and asked whether an invitation to Hamas was made by Erdoрan during a meeting in Riyadh last week.
"It would be a real disaster if we would see Haniyah in Ankara one morning," said Avivi, according to the daily Radikal.
Israel's reaction is not limited to the ambassador's warnings. Shimon Peres, a prominent Israeli politician and deputy prime minister has cancelled his trip to Ankara scheduled for April 3-4. Israeli diplomats underlined that the reason for the cancellation is Peres' busy schedule. Peres was supposed to deliver a speech at Bilkent University and to have bilateral contacts with Turkish officials.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official declined the link between Peres' cancellation and the latest invitation to Hamas.
Congressman Tom Lantos on Thursday night called Foreign Minister Abdullah Gьl and reacted to the invitation of Hamas. Lantos reportedly threatened the Turkish government with cutting its support to block an Armenian genocide resolution in the U.S House of Representatives.