By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- On Thursday, in a joint press conference in Doha, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of trying to instigate a regional war. Fidan, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman. Al Thani held the joint press conference after their meeting. Fidan commented: “It is obvious that Netanyahu is trying to drag our region into a war in order to stay in power,” adding “As countries in the region, we do not want third parties to being their conflicts to this geography.” During his meeting, Fidan said current developments in the region were discussed and that he had extensive and detailed coordination with Al-Thani on bilateral and regional issues. Fidan and Turkish President Erdogan have both previously declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza, amount to genocide. After Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, Iran vowed retaliation. To that end, Iran hit Israel April 13 with a barrage of drones and missiles. Since then the U.S., G7 leaders, the EU and Middle East allies have all been consulting one another with the consensus that escalation against Iran would best be tabled. As Fidan told the press: “We had warned that Israel’s crimes in Gaza head the potential to escalate and spread the conflict. The events of last weekend remined us all that a war involving countries outside the region is not far off.” As he added: “Unfortunately, the risk persists. We made a concerted effort to keep tensions under control before the events began. We, are regional countries, do not want third parties to bring their own conflicts into the region.”
Fidan reiterated the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He also said: “Humanitarian aid should be allowed, and then we must urgently take steps towards the implementation of a two-state solution.” He suggested that Western countries take a solidified stance against Iran and that countries with influence over Israel, especially the U.S., should take a similar stance and end Israeli actions. Prior to these comments, the U.S. along with EU ministers did take a unified position against Iran’s aggression on Israel with the U.S. having placed new sanctions on Iran in the wake of its attack on Israel. Fidan warned that countries providing “unconditional support” to Netanyahu “review their stance.” In the case of the U.S., President Biden already told Netanyahu that if Israel decides to retaliate against Iran that the U.S. will not involve itself in any offensive. The Turkish minister highlighted that at the root of the region’s problems is Israel’s violence and oppression of Palestinians. Fidan added that Gazans are the actual victims of the regional dispute.
The Turkish foreign minister said Turkiye supports Qatar’s ceasefire efforts, expressing thanks to Qatar and said the two main goals of Turkiye and Qatar are to create a just and lasting peace and establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on 1967 borders. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected a two-state solution especially since his ultra-orthodox rightwing base in the Israeli government is staunchly opposed to any two-state solution, threatening to oust Netanyahu if he so much as hints at agreeing with it. Meanwhile, Fidan said he and Hamas’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh had discussions on a ceasefire that is purported to be imminent. Fidan said that his discussion politically with Hamas referenced the group’s willingness to transition into a “solely political entity” after a Palestinian state is established. Fidan was also in Qatar for talks focusing on economic and trade cooperation between the two countries as Fidan mentioned: “We believe that we will be able to reach our short-and medium-term target of 5 billion dollars in trade volume.” Fidan also said the discussions centered around investments and opportunities to further expand current cooperation in tourism and energy. He added that the Turkiye-Qatar Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement was approved by Turkish Parliament in February. Fidan said the agreement assists in achieving economic and trade goals as well as military and defense. He added that resuming negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkiye will benefit trade with Qatar. He said Turkiye will continue working with Qatar and other GCC member states in strengthening institutional relations.
Photo : AA
