Hamas leader calls for Palestinian unity after talks in Turkey

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has called for a unity agreement between Palestinian factions, saying peace is mandatory for Palestinians who are united in fighting Israeli occupation, Trend reports.

Mashaal, speaking on Sunday after talks with Turkish leaders, dismissed rivalry between Palestinian groups as a "conspiracy" targeting the Palestinians. "We want to open a new page, and we think that we have created a peaceful domestic atmosphere. Peace is obligatory, and Palestinians should be unified. The Palestine issue is our cause, and our stance on occupation is the same," Mashaal said about talks between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

"I would like to send a message to all Palestinian people living in and out of Palestine: Let's exert efforts seriously and sincerely to make an internal compromise agreement. ... We should sacrifice our personal and political views for the sake of the Palestinian cause," Mashaal said in an interview with Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Mashaal's remarks came after his meetings with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül over the past couple of days. In a statement released after talks with Mashaal on Saturday, Gül's office expressed the need for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, at a time when many in the region are "embracing democracy within the framework of the Arab spring."