In every corner of the region, Israel’s name formidably looms as a threat. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan pointed out this reality as he attended a news conference on the last day of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in the eponymous Turkish city on Sunday.
“Israel’s expansionism became a global problem,” he said, as he explained how they started it with Gaza. “It is obvious that they have a depopulation policy there, either by killing people or driving them away. The international community utilized all diplomatic tools to prevent it,” he said.
Türkiye mobilized efforts to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza and joined the international diplomatic blitz to that extent. Nevertheless, Israel, apparently strengthened by inaction in the West and the staunch support from some members of the international community, did not backtrack much, except accepting a cease-fire in Gaza it later violated repeatedly. As the U.S.-Israel-Iran war intensified, Israel shifted its focus to Lebanon again, under the pretext of eliminating Hezbollah. In the worst attacks since the notorious “pager bombings” of 2024, Israel made incursions into Lebanon in indiscriminating attacks against general population. Since last month, more than 2,000 people were killed in Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.
Fidan said Lebanon was once again at the clutches of a ruthless war. “In addition to the Israeli occupation that displaced more than 1 million people, we see Israel is implementing its policy of invasion in Gaza now in Lebanon. This is an occupation that will seriously affect region’s stability. Israel is applying a fait accompli. We will do everything we can to stop this,” he said.
Another source of concern for Türkiye is Israel’s emerging alliance with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration. The two countries, which had past hostilities with Türkiye and that continue to a degree to this day, signaled expanding defense cooperation with Tel Aviv in a recent trilateral summit. Fidan underlined that Türkiye would not intervene in the cooperation between other countries but expressed Ankara’s anger over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks during the summit that implied that it was an alliance against Türkiye. Fidan pointed out that the alliance was also one-of-a-kind for Israel in Europe.
The minister said Türkiye was strong enough to defend itself against any threat from the emerging alliance but highlighted that the Muslim countries in the region had concerns about this new alliance. “This is a concern especially for weaker countries,” he highlighted.
He also commented on Türkiye’s cooperation with Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and said it was for stability and economic prosperity in the region. He was responding to a question about Israel’s concerns that the alliance may be against Tel Aviv. Representatives of the four countries came together on the margins of the forum, in the third such quadrilateral meeting in recent memory.
“Our objective is to develop a realistic, actionable framework across multiple domains, including economy, technology, health and defense. These four countries represent a broader regional potential. Our assessment is that the region has not fully utilized its cooperation capacity, and we aim to operationalize this untapped potential,” Fidan said. “This is not an alliance against any actor. Unlike other bloc-based approaches, our focus is on conflict resolution, economic advancement and stability. We believe that regional challenges must be addressed through regional ownership rather than external dependency,” he stated.
The same quartet has also been active in mediating a cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran. Commenting on the issue, Fidan said Türkiye was giving its “whole support” to negotiations mediated by Pakistan. “The talks are at a critical point and both sides have sincerity and will to continue them. Since the cease-fire, the whole world is relaxed and I know that the sides are aware of it,” he said, noting that he held a meeting with the Pakistani side before the news conference on Sunday. “We hope the sides will prolong the duration of cease-fire thanks to pressure from the international community. An extension is needed. I am optimistic about it. The negotiations, more or less, are complete but there are still disagreements over a few critical matters,” he said.
Fidan stated that the world was in favor of continued negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. “No one wants the war to resume,” he said, pointing out the economic fallout from the war. “It has already inflicted irreparable losses on the budgets of some countries,” he said.
