Urgent: Statement from Minister Fidan in Gaza: “We wanted a ceasefire” – Turkey last minute news

Breaking news! Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan gave an assessment to the Qatari Al Jazeera channel about the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the international efforts made to stop them.

Pointing out that there was an atmosphere of normalization in the region before October 7 and that Turkey adopted a policy to contribute to the atmosphere of normalization in the region, Fidan said, “But after October 7, we saw that nothing fundamentally changed in the Palestinian situation.” He added: “It was not possible for us to act as if nothing had happened while the blood of nearly 13,000 of our Palestinian brothers who were martyred in Turkey was evident.” He said.

Pointing out that Turkey followed a two-stage policy of “announcing a ceasefire without delay and delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Fidan said that they focused on the ceasefire in previous Gaza wars, but they saw in this war that if the two-state solution was It was not emphasized with the ceasefire, as the wars will continue.

In this context, Fidan stated that very serious decisions had been taken in Riyadh, and that serious progress had been made in the decisions taken.

Regarding breaking the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, Fidan said: “Until now, Islamic countries have chosen to solve the problem using all the diplomatic and humanitarian tools available to them, and here, using all the diplomatic tools available to us, we are working hard to support the Palestinian cause outside the region, and oppose Israeli oppression.” “It is necessary that we meet with countries from America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations and other platforms to put an end to the indiscriminate killing committed by Israel. Activity. The current stage is a stage that prefers the path of diplomacy.” He said.

Fidan said that many different studies are underway on this issue, which may or may not be reflected in the press, and added:

“The Islamic countries have now met, and there is a working group consisting of 7 countries. This working group includes Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. As of next week, representatives of these countries and foreign ministers from various countries will attend,” he added. “We see that they will start conducting Certain connections in capitals. On the other hand, as you know, in the decision taken at the Riyadh summit, there is a call to break the siege.”

Fidan pointed out that the working group consisting of 7 countries is the group that will implement the joint summit decision taken by the member states of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh, and he said: “As I said, its first duty is” to carry out pressure activities on an international scale, especially to support countries. Islamic and Arab countries.” “To share the views of the Organization for Cooperation on this issue with the countries concerned and establish a joint work platform. I believe that by doing this, great ideas and actions will emerge.”

It is Türkiye’s decision to work jointly with other countries

Fidan answered the question, “Why was Turkey later than some countries in boycotting Israel and withdrawing its ambassador?” As follows:

“While managing this crisis, we made a principled decision as follows: Let us take our actions together with other sister countries. In other words, instead of making and implementing decisions alone, we should come together with other Islamic countries, countries of the region, and even Latin countries.” We must “The American countries, the African countries, and, if possible, some European countries need to make decisions more effectively.” Let us make these decisions together with the countries. Because although the decisions we take unilaterally will bring serious political relief, especially to our people, we need “to act Collectively to have an impact on solving the problem. Therefore, we have put this issue on the agenda since the first extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of Islamic Cooperation. “We brought it up and we saw that different countries started doing it one by one, so we took that action and recalled our ambassador.”

Fidan stressed that Turkey has no problem taking unilateral steps and imposing sanctions, and said, “What we are focusing on is what methodology will be more effective? As you know, we did that in the past after the Mavi Marmara incident, so Turkey has no problem in this regard.” Especially the position of our president, “The position of our government and our people is very clear on this issue, so we have no problem in making these decisions.”

Fidan said that the biggest crisis, other than the repression in Gaza, is the silence of the Western world, especially America, regarding this repression. He said, “This is causing a great rift in the Islamic world, the region, and the rest of the world.” The world, and there are dangerous fault lines that this rupture will expose,” he said.

Türkiye is trying to create a common platform on Gaza

Fidan answered the question: Will Turkey and the United States lead a bloc similar to the economic, political and military boycott that was followed against Russia in the Ukraine war and what prevented that as follows:

“There are no obstacles. This is an issue that is on our agenda. As I said, we wanted to start the agenda first with the OIC, and then we will definitely evaluate it and bring it to a larger circle. Basically it has been implemented, as you know, our president’s wife hosted, Mrs. Emine Erdogan, invited guests from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, the rest of the world, Far Asia, and presidents and wives of heads of government gathered in Istanbul, and this was the first attempt.

But basically, in the first phase, we began to create a joint platform with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, which are the common areas between members of the Islamic world and the Arab world neighboring Gaza and Palestine, and after that, he added, “We will take all necessary steps to create a broad solidarity platform with the remaining countries.”

The position of Türkiye and the United States towards the ceasefire is different

Fidan said, while providing information about the meeting he held with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, during his visit to Turkey, “Our position is basically as follows: We want to implement a ceasefire as quickly as possible to stop this repression and deliver aid to Turkey.” He added, “We said that we do not accept that the issue of deporting US residents and sending them to other places is a policy. The issue that we cannot agree on with the Americans is, ‘They certainly support Israel regarding the ceasefire, and they do not want a ceasefire.’ But I think we have reached a point in terms of a humanitarian ceasefire,” he said.

“The threat of Israeli nuclear weapons increases the nuclear arms race.”

Speaking about Israel’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Gaza, noting that this is “a secret known to everyone,” Fidan said: “We see that Israel is working to develop its nuclear capabilities, taking advantage of the fact that it is not a party to the treaty.” The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement, and we ask for assistance from America in this regard. He added: “We also know that it has great support from Europe, so it is not a secret.” He said.

Fidan noted that he viewed it as “a big problem, given the statements of some crazy Israeli politicians about the use of nuclear weapons,” and said, “Israel’s continued possession of nuclear weapons will increase the race for nuclear weapons. This is not the current situation.” For the benefit of the region and the world,” he said.

Minister Fidan continued:

He added, “Either the region will be completely free of nuclear weapons, or other countries will have to take steps to feel safer in this regard, so we need to find a solution to this matter. This is one of the important strategic issues before us.” “We must definitely solve it, and we will continue to work on this issue.”

“Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.”

Indicating that Turkey has one point of view on the post-war situation in Gaza, Fidan said:

“We frankly do not accept that the question of who will rule Gaza without a two-state solution is a valid question. Gaza was already governed before the war, and it can continue to be governed now. Gaza has no problem with self-rule. The problem with Gaza is that it remains under occupation and ‘keeping it Under fire, its infrastructure was destroyed, and its superstructure was destroyed. We currently believe that there is a problem not in managing Gaza, but in protecting it.”

Fidan reiterated that Turkey does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, and said: “Our president also announced, and I also announced, and I said in previous press conferences, that we do not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas is a terrorist organization operating inside Turkey.” “Palestinian State System.” Party. We are a country that recognizes the State of Palestine, and about 140 countries recognize it with us. Therefore, we do not classify the parties operating within any country as a “terrorist organization or not.” Hamas is the reality of Palestine. “It is a movement that appeared in “Under the conditions of occupation. We believe that when the occupation ends and Palestine is normalized, organizations like Hamas will return to normal life.” He said.

Regarding the issue of prisoner exchange, Fidan said that Qatar has made a tremendous effort in this issue since the beginning of the crisis, and that Turkey has done its best in this regard.

Fidan said that the Egyptian administration did its best with regard to bringing aid through the Rafah border gate, but it had some sensitivities. Fidan pointed out that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries have taken serious initiatives on behalf of Egypt, and added that Egypt is making a serious effort to bring humanitarian aid, especially to the port of Al-Arish, and allow it to enter.