Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's globetrotting mission with a delegation of fellow diplomats from Muslim and Arab countries continued in Canada and the United States. The Turkish minister is a member of the delegation formed after an extraordinary summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) pushing for a lasting solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict. On Saturday, the delegation was in Canada where they were received by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa and met Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.
On Friday, the delegation was in the U.S. to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, think tanks and media organizations.
The extraordinary joint summit mandated the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Nigeria to take international action to stop the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace. The group has held meetings in Beijing, Moscow, London, Paris, Barcelona, New York and Washington D.C. over the last three weeks. In its contacts so far, the delegation gave the message of starting a solution process – that will be carried out through U.N. parameters – for a permanent and fair peace after the cease-fire in Gaza. They also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.
Blinken on Saturday said he discussed the Gaza conflict with Fidan on Friday. "We talked about efforts to ensure the conflict in Gaza does not spread further and the provision of humanitarian aid. Emphasized the importance of ratifying Sweden’s NATO accession without delay,” Blinken said on X.
After meeting with Blinken, Fidan on Friday told Anadolu Agency (AA) and Turkish national broadcaster TRT that Türkiye brought up its position regarding the situation in Gaza "very clearly" with the US. "We express to them very clearly the seriousness of the situation here, that there is no more tolerance, and our stance on what steps need to be taken in this regard," he added. Fidan also added that they discussed Sweden's NATO membership process and normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The situation in Gaza was also the theme of Fidan's message on the occasion of Dec. 10 World Human Rights Day. Shared by the Foreign Ministry on Sunday, the message says ongoing inhumane attacks in Gaza were dealing a huge blow not only to the rights of Palestinian people but also to "common values of humanity."
Fidan said in his message that they marked the day with increased responsibility for establishing lasting peace and stability in the region and the world and standing against human rights violations in the world. "Inability to end the humanitarian drama (in Gaza) exposes the weakness of the international system," Fidan said.
Türkiye's top diplomat underlined that it was the common responsibility of all countries to end "this shame" and take action to stop the massacre of civilians in Gaza and for permanent peace.
"Türkiye will continue working with all members of the international community with conscience and morals, those valuing humanitarian dignity, to stop the massacres, to address the needs of Palestinian people and for the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and based on the 1967 borders," he said.
Fidan highlighted that Türkiye had a clear, decisive stand against hate crimes, particularly rising racism, xenophobia and anti-Muslim attacks in certain countries. He said it was very important that countries should show solidarity in the fight against hate crimes and take concrete steps without any excuses, for the sake of peaceful coexistence. He also stated that all countries should maintain a principled, consistent stand far from double standards for preserving human dignity and common values which are the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
