Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirms meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed reports from Turkish media indicating that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Turkey on Saturday. Erdogan stated, "What we will speak will be between us for now. And we will take our steps accordingly."
Regarding the recent escalation, Erdogan expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of international leadership.
"Israel says different things, Iran of course has different opinions. Nobody claimed the [attack]. And there is no reasonable statement so far. You can not say ‘What Iran says is right.' You can not say ‘What Israel says is right’ either. When you look at USA, they say ‘We were aware, we were not aware,'" Erdogan commented while addressing reporters in Istanbul.
Additionally, Erdogan remarked that he was not surprised by the United States vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution that would have facilitated full UN recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday.
“At the UNSC while the world supported Palestine, America is backing Israel again. We were not expecting anything different but this gave us an opportunity to see that,” he added.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
