UPDATE - Türkiye says it expects Israel to take global warnings on Rafah attacks seriously

ADDS REMARKS BY TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday that Ankara expects Israel to consider the warnings by the global community against any attack on the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

“The international community has come together, issuing warnings to Israel, particularly urging against any attack on Rafah. There are very serious warnings, and we expect Israel to take these warnings into consideration,” Fidan told a news conference with his Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili in Ankara.

Fidan said Türkiye is exerting significant efforts, particularly in the realm of aid for Gazans, and is closely cooperating with Egypt on the issue.

The Turkish Red Crescent, disaster agency AFAD, and NGOs are engaged in humanitarian aid effort under the coordination of the Foreign Ministry, he said, but lamented limitations on the daily amount of aid that can enter the blockaded enclave.

“We are working with the international community to explore ways to increase this allowance,” Fidan said.

Since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, the Israeli offensive into Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in an interim ruling this January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Israel has now announced plans for a ground invasion in Rafah, where more than 1 million people are sheltering, with world leaders ratcheting up pressure to abandon the offensive.

The South African government, meanwhile, has requested the ICJ to consider an intervention in Israel’s planned military operations in the Palestinian city.

- Turkish Meskhetians, Azerbaijan-Armenia relations, diplomacy

The Turkish foreign minister, speaking of the forced deportation of Meskhetian Turks from Georgia in 1944, reiterated the expectation of support from Tblisi for their return.

"I once again emphasized the support we expect from them for the return of our Turkish Meskhetians compatriots to their homelands in Georgia," Fidan said, adding that Darchiashvili shared with him Georgia's legal framework and constructive attitudes as a government in this regard.

He said they evaluated developments in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and expressed Türkiye’s stance in favor of resolving the matters within the framework of Georgia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internationally recognized borders.

According to Fidan, they also discussed the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and reiterated their mutual desire for the Caucasus region to achieve stability at the earliest.

"We mutually underlined our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine once again. We engaged in an exchange of ideas on what can be done to bring an end to this war with a fair peace based on international law,” Fidan added.

He shared that Ankara would participate in the three-day Munich Security Conference starting on Friday, and later in the G-20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He also reminded about the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which is scheduled from March 1-3.

"In the next two weeks, Türkiye will continue to engage intensively in diplomatic activities," he said.