Addressing the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) in the eponymous Turkish city on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan highlighted the rising global opposition to Israel's crimes targeting Palestinians.
Referring to Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. soldier who burned himself in protest, he said, "Honorable people of the West no longer tolerate Israel's savagery."
Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force, set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. last week in protest against Israel's ongoing attacks. He has since been commemorated around the globe, with dozens defining his act as "the ultimate sacrifice."
"Global conscience wants cease-fire; anyone who stands up for humanitarian values wants the massacres in Gaza to stop, but the culprits are blind and deaf to these calls," Fidan told the crowd in Türkiye's southern Mediterranean city where representatives from 147 countries, including 19 heads of state, 73 ministers are convening under the main theme of "Elevating Diplomacy Amid Crises."
The forum is held for the third time this year, notably days ahead of the sixth month mark of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and pushed the territory to the brink of famine, in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border incursion by Hamas.
Türkiye, a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause, has since engaged in diplomatic and legal efforts for an urgent cease-fire and, ultimately, a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including holding direct talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Hamas leaders.
Israel has also yet to comply with an interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as part of the genocide case filed by South Africa, which ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
The Turkish foreign minister on Friday stressed that whatever must be done to prevent the massacres in Gaza "must be done now."
"We have launched our initiatives from the first day of the crisis," Fidan assured, noting that the Gaza Contact Group would discuss the Palestinian cause at a following panel on Friday. The group was assigned by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take international action to stop the conflict in Gaza and help achieve lasting peace.
"We don't have time to lose. We need diplomacy now," Fidan stressed, lambasting "the hypocrisy of the weakening international system," which he said did not promise justice or equality.
"Another reflection of the crises in the international system is the Ukraine-Russia war, which is in its third year," Fidan continued.
He also assured Ankara, which carefully maintained ties with both sides since February 2022, stood ready to facilitate peace talks between the warring sides.
The 2022 edition of the ADF was the first time foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met face-to-face, enabling a prisoner swap and ultimately paving the way for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, also brokered by the U.N., which enabled the export of nearly 33 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain until its collapse last summer.
Turning to the ongoing Syrian civil war, Fidan again lamented the international system's failure to resolve the Syrian crisis and pointed out the efforts of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) to bring Turkic states together on an institutional level.
"The fight against terrorism is another issue that necessitates regional solidarity," Fidan said. "We can see there isn't a joint stance against terrorism. Türkiye continues fighting terrorism, particularly in the Middle East and Africa."
Ankara battles terror groups like PKK, its Syrian offshoot, the YPG and Daesh in northern Syria and Iraq, who have yet to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group despite Türkiye's warnings.
