GAZA CITY - Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, on Monday congratulated Turkey's Islamist-rooted ruling party on its election win and expressed hopes about the region returning to Islam.
"It reflects the transformation underway among peoples in the region with a view to coming back to the Islamic ideals," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
The election win "also shows that the Islamic nation is now convinced there is no future unless it treads the Islamic path," he said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) increase its share of the popular vote in Sunday's poll.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip on June 15, routing loyalists of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. It is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union, Israel and the United States.
07/23/2007 10:43 GMT