Türkiye denounces Trump’s proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza — Fidan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said Ankara is “completely opposed” to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and send them to other countries.

Speaking at a joint news conference on Sunday with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Doha, Fidan said the proposal goes against humanitarian law.

He stressed that everyone should stand against the plan, adding that Ankara supports the recent declaration made in Cairo regarding Palestinians in Gaza.

Fidan also said that Türkiye could take in some Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas.

"Our president has declared that we are ready to take in some freed Palestinians... in order to support the agreement. Türkiye, along with other countries, will do its part in this regard so the ceasefire agreement can remain in force," he said at a press conference in Doha.

Fidan is on a two-day visit to Qatar starting on Sunday.

Syria, terrorism

Stressing the importance of ensuring security in all of Syria, where a new administration is in place after the fall of Bashar al Assad in December, Fidan said: "It is important for armed groups (in Syria) to come together under a national army."

On terrorism, the top diplomat said it is crucial for both Türkiye and Syria to continue the fight against both PKK/YPG and Daesh terror groups.

"There is no way we will tolerate the continuation of terrorism in Syria," Fidan told the joint news conference with his Qatari counterpart Al Thani on Sunday.

Fidan stressed that the US relationship with the PKK/YPG terror group was presented as “temporary cooperation” during the Barack Obama era, but Türkiye foresaw from the very beginning that this would lead to certain complications.

"In the process, of course, the fact that the (terrorist) organisation gradually abused Americans and other Western countries, and that there was a serious increase in the terrorist threat against Türkiye in return for the prison services it provided, constituted an unacceptable situation for us," Fidan said, adding that this concern was shared with US officials.

He expressed confidence that Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan are all capable of coming together and waging the necessary fight against Daesh, making any collaboration with terrorist organisations pointless.

"We have already held preliminary talks on this matter. We hope that our American friends will give up this policy that poses a threat to Türkiye," he said.

He expressed hope that US President Donald Trump will "put an end to this ongoing mistake in the region," adding that this situation both triggered regional instability and damaged Türkiye-US relations.