Fidan urges US to pressure Israel on destabilizing policies

Israeli policies and regional stability

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Monday that Ankara expects Washington to use its leverage to compel Israel to abandon policies threatening regional stability. Speaking at a panel in New York on bilateral relations, Fidan noted that Türkiye and the US share an interest in sovereign, stable states in the region, particularly Syria and Iraq. "In particular, we expect the United States to further use its influence to urge Israel to end its policies that undermine both regional and global peace and stability," he said.

Fidan identified three primary threats to regional security: the ongoing war with Iran, the risk of Yemen's conflict expanding to neighboring states, and Israel's destabilizing policies across the Middle East. "These threats reinforce one another and obstruct diplomacy," he stated, adding that addressing them requires effective regional responsibility and close cooperation with Washington.

Mecca alliance

The minister called for greater "regional ownership" of security, arguing that local solutions have better prospects for success. He cited the Mecca alliance between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as a model for this approach, describing it as providing institutional foundation for regional cooperation. "Local solutions have a better chance to live," Fidan said. "This is why we believe that countries of the region should take greater responsibility for the security and stability of their own geography."

Fidan characterized the arrangement as a "defense club" rather than a mechanism designed to deter specific adversaries. "We come together around a defense club, not to deter somebody, to make sure that we commit to each other's security, territorial integrity, and sovereignty," he said. Responding to questions about whether the arrangement had been tested by recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Fidan argued it was unfair to judge the "newborn" defense pact against a decade-old Yemen crisis when "we've just started."

Strategic partnership

Fidan described the Türkiye-US relationship as having "time-tested enduring value," noting that Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump have played a central role in building bilateral momentum. "Our task is to turn this momentum into concrete benefits and institutionalize our cooperation not only for our countries but also for maintaining peace and stability in our region," he said.

Regarding defense cooperation, Fidan said both leaders agreed during their recent White House meeting to resolve the stalled F-35 fighter jet sale and CAATSA sanctions "as soon as possible," though technical discussions are proceeding more slowly than anticipated. He also cited unprecedented coordination with US mediators including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on files ranging from the Russia-Ukraine war to Gaza, Libya and the South Caucasus.