Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan to hold talks in US for ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday will visit the US capital of Washington, DC to hold meetings as part of a joint diplomatic effort focused on Gaza, the Foreign Ministry has said.

"The Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League, which was held on 11 November 2023, mandated the Foreign Ministers of Türkiye, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Nigeria to take international action to stop the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministers will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and will also hold talks with think tank representatives and members of the press.

On Saturday, the delegation will meet with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in Ottawa.

The delegation

Over the past three weeks, the group has held meetings in Beijing, Moscow, London, Paris, Barcelona and New York, respectively. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit also took part in the meetings.

In its talks so far, the delegation gave the message of starting a solution process —that will be carried out through UN parameters —for a permanent and fair peace after the cease-fire in Gaza.

They also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.

The delegation emphasised that Israel cannot ensure the security of its citizens by shedding more blood and that Israel's security is only possible by making peace with Palestine.

Israel, it said, has clearly violated international law and that the silence of some countries in the face of this situation has shaken the trust in the international system and international law.

"All countries should distance themselves from Israel's lawless attitude and trampling on human values. Otherwise, they become accomplices to the crime," the delegation warned.

It also said that Israel's aggression increases the risk of regional and even global conflict, and pointed out that there is an increase in anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic actions.

Israel resumed its military offensive on Palestine's Gaza on December 1, after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since October 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.