Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is heading to Qatar on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, Turkish diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
Fidan is set to meet with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha.
The pair will discuss bilateral relations, the situation in Palestine and regional developments, the sources said, likely including the recent tensions between Israel and Iran.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also spoke with the emir of Qatar and called for increased cooperation between Muslim countries in view of the war on Gaza in a call on Monday.
These countries must increase their efforts to stop Israel's "brutal attacks" in the Gaza Strip and to hold the country accountable for "crimes against humanity," according to a statement from the Turkish presidential office.
Erdoğan told Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, that it is crucial to exert a restraining influence on Israel and to act with common sense to prevent the spread of tensions in the region.
The statement did not explicitly mention Iran's unprecedented direct attack on Israel. On Sunday, Fidan had called for de-escalation in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart.
Relations between Israel and Türkiye massively deteriorated after Israel launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip after an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Palestinian resistance group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Erdoğan has harshly criticized Israel's military action in Gaza, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing a "massacre," charges Israel rejects.
The Turkish government maintains links with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Unlike some European countries and the United States, Türkiye does not classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Nearly 33,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 76,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling ordering Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Qatar, alongside the U.S. and Egypt, has acted as a mediator in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which are not talking directly to each other.
Hamas is currently studying a plan presented by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo for a truce and hostage release deal.
Also on Monday, Türkiye, currently the largest aid provider for Gazans, called for renewed attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Palestinian enclave amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.
Gaza lies at the heart of the conflict in the Middle East, Ankara said after Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.
Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said the attack will not go unpunished.
Many countries have urged restraint to avoid edging closer to a full-blown regional war.
During talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, Fidan stressed the necessity for a cease-fire in Gaza to prevent the crisis from escalating further, reminding that Türkiye has "repeatedly expressed" the risk of the Gaza crisis evolving into a regional conflict since its inception.
Turkish intelligence director Ibrahim Kalın too has been in contact with William Burns, head of U.S. intelligence, last week, who asked him to act as a "mediator" in the Israel-Iran tensions.
Kalın also spoke with Hamas's political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh over the phone on Sunday, Turkish sources said, to discuss Gaza, cease-fire negotiations, the delivery of humanitarian aid to the blockaded strip, prisoner exchange and the return of Gazans to their homes in the north.
