ANKARA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish foreign ministry officials on Sunday denied the claims that the country has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the Islamic movement Hamas that controls Gaza, local media reports said.
Officials from Turkey's foreign ministry approached by Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman said such allegations were "made up and did not reflect the truth."
Western media have reported that Turkey would provide some 300 million U.S. dollars to Hamas following Gazan leader Ismail Haniyeh's visit to Ankara earlier this month, according to Today's Zaman.
"There is no cash aid to Hamas, but Turkey is, of course, engaged in projects delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza," the officials said.
They added that a 40 million U.S. dollar hospital project is one of such projects, but the construction material could not be shipped into Gaza due to the blockade imposed by Israel.
Turkey frequently complains about the blockade which Israel claims necessary to prevent weapons from being smuggled to Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider to be a terrorist group.
"Turkey has been one of the strongest advocates of the Palestinian case," President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by the private Cihan news agency on Sunday.
"Hamas is a political body that entered elections in the Palestinian region of Gaza and came to power through the votes of the people," Gul said, defying Western claims that Hamas draws its power from terrorist activities.
"Our contact has been constant, but we will have to wait and see what has come out of the frequent visits," he added.
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