The truth about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government is that they have become experts at playing both sides of the fence – making “moderate” noises when Western ears are listening, while collaborating with Islamic terrorists and terrorist regimes whenever they can get away with it.

Turkey’s support for the Hamas terrorists has been consistent, passionate and unequivocal. The Turkish government sponsored the May 2010 flotilla that was intercepted while attempting to bring prohibited materials to the Hamas regime in Gaza. Erdogasn’s claim that the flotilla participants were peaceful civil rights activists crumbled as the whole world watched the chilling YouTube video of the Islamic extremists on board trying to beat an Israeli soldier to death with baseball bats. Other Israeli soldiers were stabbed and nearly drowned. Erdogan said it was the Israeli soldiers who were “terrorizing” the Muslim baseball players.

The Turks attempted to send a second flotilla to Gaza last year, but were thwarted by the intervention of the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin). Flotilla organizers complained that the Center’s lawsuits and warning letters caused insurance companies to withdraw coverage of the ships, and resulted in Greek government inspections that found the boats to be unseaworthy and improperly registered. Prime Minister Erdogan may yet try another smuggling operation to Gaza, however, because his support for Hamas has few rivals.