Hamas 'exodus' from Qatar to new MB 'Den' 'Islamist' Turkey.

Hamas 'exodus' from Qatar to new MB 'Den' 'Islamist' Turkey.(CM).

AMMAN, JORDAN — Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, arguably Qatar’s most famous resident, has lost his base of political operations in Doha, the departure marking a deeper geopolitical shift taking hold in the region.

While the reasons for Mr. Meshal’s departure for Turkey in late December were cloaked initially by official denials from both Hamas and Qatar – Meshal’s refuge and base of operations since fleeing unrest in Damascus in January 2012 – Hamas officials and observers now say it was brought about by pressure from Qatar’s Arab Gulf neighbors.

Observers say Qatar’s shift toward the Saudis and Egypt and away from Islamists is purely pragmatic.

“Right now the wind of change is blowing in Saudi Arabia’s favor, and Qatar is moving with it,” says Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an Amman-based political analyst and expert in Islamist movements.

In order to mend ties with Egypt and rejoin the Arab world, Qatar had only one option: give up Hamas. The results of Qatar’s new realignment have been clear.

In September, Qatari officials expelled seven high-profile Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including Brotherhood cleric and spiritual leader Wajdi Ghuneim, who said “Qatar is being exposed to external pressures to take decisions against the Muslim Brotherhood – decisions it does not desire to take.”

As weeks passed, Hamas insiders say, Qatari officials imposed a series of restrictions on Hamas leadership as well, proving that the crackdown expanded beyond the Egyptian Brotherhood and that the movement’s Palestinian branch was no longer welcome to operate freely.

According to Hamas officials, Qatari security officials prevented the movement’s political bureau from receiving official delegations in Doha in December and “strongly advised” Hamas officials against traveling or communicating with Iranian officials.

The restrictions escalated into a crackdown in late December after Qatari authorities briefly detained two Hamas financiers under suspicion of “illegal monetary and economic transactions.”

Hamas officials say the arrest sent a clear message: Hamas officials were welcome in Qatar. Their politics were not.

“There has been clear pressure from outside forces that has changed Qatar’s policy,” says Abu Hamzeh, one of Hamas's officials who relocated to Qatar after leaving Damascus and is now residing in Amman.

He says 20 Hamas officials have left Qatar for Turkey over the past month.

“We may always be welcomed as guests, but we can no longer act politically or even financially or logistically in Qatar.”

It was amid this air of uncertainty in late December, that Meshal and a group of his closest advisers left their refuge and operations base in Qatar for Istanbul with little fanfare or notice.

Hamas officials were coy about the length of Meshal’s stay in Turkey, with senior official Izzat Rishaq disputing reports that Doha had asked Meshal to leave or that he had abandoned Qatar.

Instead, the officials praised Turkey’s “open political atmosphere,” and Meshal personally thanked Turkey at a high-profile congress for the ruling Justice and Development Party for “standing with the Palestinian people and the Arab and Muslim world.”

Swirling speculation over a Hamas-Qatar fallout forced Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled bin Mohamed al-Attiya to deny rumors that Meshal had been forced out, stressing that “Khaled Meshal is a dear guest in Qatar” whose welcome had not been worn out.  Hmmmm.....Ak Saray, new presidential palace in Ankara, more then 1,000 rooms, personal Hi-Tec safes.....Best place to stay in town? Iran is expecting both Erdogan and Meshaal in the near future, perhaps they can share the same flight? Read the full story here.