Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that he does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization but a resistance group defending its lands.

"From 1947 until today, Palestine has come to this day by losing its lands over and over again," Erdogan said in an interview with US-based NBC News.
When asked by host Keir Simmons about "there are those who criticize you, Türkiye, for providing a home for Hamas, who the US say are a terrorist, and you say that you are opposed to terrorism," Erdogan said: "We are, of course, against terrorists."
"But I am one of the leaders who knows Hamas well. I have never called Hamas a terrorist organization and I do not view Hamas as a terrorist organization.
"Because Hamas is a resistance group that strives to protect its lands. Therefore, how can I call such a resistance group a terrorist organization?" Erdogan said.
Replying to a question on the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel, the president said the backdrop of the incident should be examined.
"We need to know the reasons that prepared the conditions for Oct. 7. We need to understand them well. And when we examine the background of how many Palestinians were martyred, how many Palestinians were killed, the situation reaches very, very different levels," he added.
Türkiye strongly supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and around 96,100 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.