The head of the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haneya, on Sunday welcomed the visiting intention of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Palestinian enclave soon.

"Erdogan's visit to Gaza will be an exceptional event that will leave its positive consequences for our Palestinian people and land," Haneya said in a brief statement issued by his office.

On Friday, Turkish media reported that Erdogan voiced his intention to visit Gaza, where the Islamic Hamas movement took over after routing forces of President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Erdogan said he is eager to have Abbas, who has been based in the West Bank since then, accompanying him to Gaza.

If the visit happens, Erdogan will be the second high-ranking government official to visit Gaza under the administration of Hamas. Last month, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became the first head of state to set foot in Gaza since 2007.

The visit will further break the international diplomatic isolation against Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or abide by the interim peace deals that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed.

Haneya, meanwhile, praised Erdogan's calls for lifting Israel's blockade on Gaza.

In 2010, Israel started to ease the closure after an international outcry that followed its deadly attack on a Turkish flotilla bound for Gaza. The incident, which left nine pro- Palestinian Turks dead, led also to the downgrading of Israeli- Turkish diplomatic relations.