(CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State John Kerry in Turkey Sunday condemned the “cowardly terrorists” who killed a young foreign service officer in Afghanistan and referred to Kurdish terrorism against Turkey, but when asked minutes later about Hamas – the Palestinian terrorist group embraced by his Turkish hosts – he chose to comment only indirectly.

The incident provided a fresh example of the Obama administration’s reluctance to tackle Turkey’s Islamist government in public over its support for Hamas, even as it partners with Ankara in its centerpiece counter-terror initiative (which excludes Israel).

During a joint press appearance in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, Kerry was asked by a Turkish journalist about Turkey playing a more active role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“I was wondering if there’s any specific proposal for what Turkey’s contribution could be, especially regarding maybe bringing Hamas in line with international expectations,” the reporter asked. (Those expectations, as laid down by the so-called Mideast Quartet, include renunciation of terrorism.)

The same questioner also asked Kerry whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to visit the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip soon was being seen “as a looming crisis.”

In his response, Kerry was silent on Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Gaza, and addressed the broader Hamas issue only indirectly, in the context of the Palestinian economy.

“Now, obviously, it’s more complicated to deal with Gaza than the West Bank for all the obvious reasons, but Turkey can be very helpful, perhaps, in transitioning that component of the process, as well as in helping to build on our efforts to transform the economics of the West Bank itself,” he said.

Minutes earlier, Kerry had spoken about the terrorism Turkey has faced at the hands of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose violent 29-year campaign for establish Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey has cost the lives of almost 40,000 people, three-quarters of them PKK members. A Turkey-PKK peace initiative is currently underway.

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