Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that his country put forward the idea of a system in which there would be guarantors for the parties in order to bring lasting peace to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in statements made by Fidan on Monday, October 16, 2023, in an interview with representatives of the Turkish media in the capital, Ankara. .

In response to a question about some countries obtaining the status of guarantor for the Palestinian side and other countries for the Israeli side, Fidan said: “We presented the main idea of the issue of guarantee, and we say that the system should be discussed first and then its methodology separately.” Fidan also stressed that “it is unacceptable that “Israel is bombing Gaza in an unprecedented way, killing large numbers of civilians, and condemning the region to poverty and hunger by cutting off electricity, water, and fuel.”

The Al-Aqsa Flood operation was a surprise!

The Turkish official pointed out that what happened following the Hamas operation on the Israeli settlements surrounding Gaza on October 7 “was a surprise to everyone, especially to Israel.”

He added that the ease of crossing (Palestinian fighters) from Gaza to the other side (Israeli) and the operations that resulted from this crossing “surprised everyone.”

Fidan continued: “After demolishing a certain part of the wall separating Israel from Gaza, it was surprising that Hamas members, other groups, and civilian elements entered, without facing any resistance.” He added: “This situation revealed the weakness of the Israeli security apparatus, which will be discussed for many years. "Are the circumstances that led to October 7? Perhaps we need to talk about this separately. Of course we do not agree with any actions that targeted civilians on October 7 and the period that followed. On the contrary, we condemn the targeting of civilians."

Ankara's diplomatic efforts

Regarding the Hamas operation, Fidan stressed the need not to target civilians regardless of any classification, he said, and the Turkish official added: “We say that no one should target civilians, but Israel, as it did in the past, did not exclude civilians in "Return it."

While the Turkish Foreign Minister stated that when the Israeli occupation began its operations, Ankara informed the Americans, Israelis and other parties of its deep concern about the situation of civilians.

Regarding the diplomatic efforts he is making to calm the situation, he said: “As you know, we visited Egypt, and we will visit Lebanon today (Monday). After Lebanon, there is an extraordinary emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the level of foreign ministers in the Saudi city of Jeddah, and we will go there. And our president (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan is conducting extensive contacts, and we, as a foreign ministry, have contacts, as do our intelligence services.”

He pointed out that Turkey also does not accept the displacement of civilians from their places, especially from the northern parts of the Gaza Strip to the southern parts, by intimidating them.

He also revealed Ankara's efforts to determine what can be done with its counterparts to stop attacks against civilians and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Fidan explained that Turkey is seeking to turn the current crisis into an opportunity for peace, and that it has conveyed this idea to its counterparts. He continued: “We always say that Israel has suspended the two-state solution until now. Its main concern was achieving peace with other Arab countries and not with the Palestinians. This is because Israel’s perspective There is no civil Palestinian state.”

Fidan also pointed out that Israel had previously had problems with accepting its existence by the Arabs and other countries in the region, adding: “And when its existence was accepted, it became easy for it not to accept the other (the Palestinians),” and pointed out that the United States of America considers Also positive about the idea of a two-state solution in order to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.