Turkish top diplomat continues diplomacy for Gaza at G20

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held diplomatic talks with his French, South African and Russian counterparts on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Turkish diplomatic sources have reported that Fidan and his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, discussed bilateral relations and regional issues.

During a closed-door meeting in Brazil on Thursday, Fidan emphasised to Sejourne the need for urgent steps to prevent the situation in Gaza from worsening further.

He also stressed the importance of the UN and the international community uniting on this issue

During the meeting, Fidan underlined that the war in Ukraine should be resolved while upholding the country's territorial integrity and political unity.

Türkiye-EU relations were also on the agenda.

Fidan told his French counterpart that it would be a "strategic mistake" to keep Türkiye's EU membership process separate from other candidate countries.

Meeting with South African counterpart

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Naledi Pando, minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Fidan has underlined Türkiye's support for South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in late December.

It requested emergency measures to halt the Palestinian bloodshed in Gaza, where nearly 29,410 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7.

The World Court in January ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but fell short of calling a ceasefire.

It also ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed essential services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Fidan and Pando also exchanged views on the preparations for the official visit of South African President Matamela Cyril Ramphosa to Türkiye later this year.

Meeting with Russian counterpart

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to discuss bilateral ties and regional issues, including the war in Ukraine, on Thursday.

Fidan told Lavrov that Türkiye hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian war with the participation of all parties.

He also said Türkiye supports all initiatives aimed at preserving regional stability and prosperity, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

During the meeting, high-level visits were planned for the upcoming period, and bilateral and regional developments were discussed.

The ministers also exchanged views on the "dire humanitarian situation" in Gaza and steps that can be taken, the sources added.