Visiting US senators: "Only Turkey can convince Hamas to sit down for peace tals"

Only Turkey can convince Hamas to join in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, three senior US senators visiting Ankara reportedly told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. In response, sources said, Erdogan told Senators John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham that if Hamas were "encouraged" to participate in the peace talks, then Turkey "would do its best" to convince it to sit at the negotiating table. Well-placed sources said that the senators asked Erdogan about Middle East peace, and he told them in reply that peace is impossible without Hamas involved in the talks. They told Erdogan that with its prestige on the Arab street, Turkey may be the only country that could bring Hamas to the table.