Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held phone calls on Saturday with regional counterparts to discuss the Israel-Palestinian conflict, showing Ankara’s readiness to de-escalate the situation.
Fidan talked about the conflict with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Palestine, and Egypt, but no further details were disclosed
He also discussed the situation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a separate call.
Türkiye’s foreign ministry reiterated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call for restraint and condemned the loss of civilian lives.
“We emphasize that acts of violence and escalation linked to these benefit nobody,” the ministry said. It also urged citizens in the region to remain in secure, indoor locations.
“Türkiye is always ready to provide any help it can to ensure that the developments in question do not escalate further and get taken under control without spreading to a wider region,” it added. “In this regard, we continue our intensive contacts with the relevant parties.”
The conflict comes as Türkiye, which supported a two-state solution to the conflict, works to normalize ties with Israel after years of animosity.
The former allies mutually expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But a regional charm offensive launched by Ankara in 2020 prompted a thaw and subsequently led to the re-appointment of envoys.
Prior to Saturday’s violence, Erdoğan had said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may visit Türkiye in October-November to discuss cooperation on energy, while Türkiye’s energy minister said he planned to visit Israel in November.
Breaking News Turkey with Reuters