Top Turkish presidential adviser, British Mideast minister discuss regional tensions

By Zehra Nur Duz

Türkiye’s chief presidential adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic and British Minister of State for the Middle East Tariq Ahmad on Thursday discussed ongoing tension in the region amid Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

“Delighted to welcome Kilic to London yesterday,” Ahmad said on X on Friday.

“We agreed on the need for an immediate stop in fighting in Gaza and to work together to prevent escalation and further violence in the region,” he said.

Israel has waged a military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 33,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has urged it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.