REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER
By Emre Basaran and Gizem Nisa Cebi
ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye and its neighbors do not want outside countries to bring their own conflicts into the region, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday.
"We, as countries of the region, don't want third parties to bring their own conflicts to this geography," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a press conference alongside his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
"We have been reiterating that Israel's moves would cause a regional war. Last week showed such a risk is still here to stay," he said, referring to an Iranian drone and missile attack against Israel which stoked fears of a regional conflict.
"It is obvious that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to drag the region into a war to ensure his grasp on power," Fidan said.
The top Turkish diplomat said Türkiye is "striving to realize a two-state solution" for Israelis and Palestinians and is conducting diplomacy to achieve it.
"We will continue to support the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, based on the 1967 borders," he added.
- Hamas to abolish armed wing once Palestinian state formed
Fidan said he also held talks with the chairman of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar.
"Hamas officials told me that they recognize the Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and they will abolish the armed wing and continue as a political party when a Palestinian state is established," he said.
He also criticized "Israeli propaganda" for portraying Hamas as a terrorist organization "like Daesh, rather than a national resistance movement.”
According to Fidan, this portrayal of Hamas finds favor with "some actors in the West and international public opinion."
He called on countries "with influence over Israel," particularly the US, to unite and urge Israel to stop its actions.
Fidan also addressed ongoing discussions with his Qatari counterpart about further collaborative efforts to address the plight of the Palestinian people.
Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar has been conducting diplomacy for the Gaza Strip, which has been suffering from Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 last year, when Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis during a cross-border incursion. The subsequent Israeli attacks have so far killed around 34,000 Palestinians.
"Türkiye's role in solving the crisis is crucial," he added.
-‘There is a very intensive coordination between Qatar and Türkiye’ on Palestinian issue
Fidan noted that there is a very intensive coordination mechanism between Türkiye and Qatar, especially regarding the crisis over the Palestinian issue.
He also said that these negotiations were held both at the political level and between other institutions and that negotiations are continuing at the level of leaders.
He pointed out that Türkiye and Qatar in particular are in constant coordination both through the Contact Group established within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and bilateral meetings.
"Türkiye and Qatar are two of the rare countries that have a healthy relationship with Hamas. Therefore, we are working with all our might to do whatever we can, especially in the cease-fire negotiations that are currently being conducted. In particular, we have regular consultations on what kind of support we can give to the efforts made by our Qatari brothers with our Egyptian brothers."
Fidan said that representatives of Western and other world public opinion in particular contacted Türkiye most of the time.
"We are asked for our opinions on certain issues and we are asked to intervene on certain issues. I don't want to go into the details of these. While doing these things, we are in constant coordination with our Qatari brothers. In particular, they play an important role in the implementation of agreements related to the cease-fire, how can we support this role, how can we contribute differently. This is our goal at the moment."
Fidan also pointed out that there is also serious coordination between Türkiye and Qatar on humanitarian aid and said that they exchanged strategic views.
He also said they are working hard, especially on creating a common strategy and opinion between the two countries and with other countries that are friendly to Türkiye and that they are constantly working on how they can communicate these decrees to other interested parties, world public opinion, and other political actors, especially the United Nations.
"The coordination between us is very intense and continuous," he added.
-Türkiye-Qatar relations
Fidan also stressed that relations between Türkiye and Qatar and the ties of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries have reached an exceptional level in the last 10 years.
He also pointed out that the strong will expressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the basis of this cooperation.
Recalling that the ninth meeting of the Supreme Strategic Committee was held in Doha under the chairmanship of the leaders of the two countries, Fidan added that the next meeting will be held in Türkiye later this year.
He also noted that there was an opportunity to comprehensively discuss the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries during today's talks, saying that they believe they can achieve their short- and medium-term trade volume targets of $5 billion.
Noting that they discussed investments and opportunities to further deepen existing cooperation in areas such as tourism and energy, Fidan said the Türkiye-Qatar Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement was approved by the Turkish Parliament in February.
He pointed out that this agreement will create an important momentum in achieving the goals in economic and trade relations, adding the decision to restart negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Türkiye will contribute to trade with Qatar.
Fidan stated that they will continue to work with Qatar and other member states to strengthen institutional relations with the GCC and added that they also discussed cooperation in the field of military and defense industry during the talks.
He also said they had the opportunity to evaluate the activities of the Turkish-Qatari Joint Force Command located in Doha.