Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies and government are a strain for Israel, the region and international security.
"The policies of Netanyahu's government are not only a problem for us," Fidan said in an interview with the Abu Dhabi-based The National newspaper. "His policies and his government are a burden for Israel, a burden for the region, and a burden and threat for international security."
Fidan ruled out the possibility that rhetoric between Ankara and Tel Aviv could escalate into an open conflict.
"There is no reason to have an open conflict," he said. Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "is a leader of peace and wisdom" who "wouldn't be baited into anything," he added.
European leaders, while beginning to recognize the danger of Israel, are yet to find ways of dealing with the problem, he said, warning that attempts to destabilize the progress in Syria could change that.
He said international attention had shifted from the Gaza Strip because of the war in the Gulf and added that greater international pressure on Israel is needed "to let Palestinians get more international humanitarian aid."
Fidan noted Türkiye's unique position to mediate regional disputes.
"We know everybody, we know the dynamics of every conflict," he said. "So, I think we are best positioned to really understand (what is happening) and how to help stop them."
"We need to go back to a situation where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every nation is fully recognized," said Fidan. "Iran has claimed for a long time that it was a pre-emptive security policy that they've been taking by having (proxies) in these countries, just like the Israelis are occupying the rest of the region as part of security."
"If we get a new security understanding, which would guarantee safety, security, political sovereignty, and territorial integrity of every party in the region, with a new understanding, I think it should tell Iran, look, we can go back to our corners," he said, expressing his belief that Iran "is mature enough to understand all these realities."
"So hopefully, if we reach a peace agreement between United States and Iran, then we can really start having healthy discussions."
Fidan said he believed the ceasefire between Iran and the US could hold despite US President Donald Trump's claim that it was "over."
"I think there was a lack of communication and misunderstanding between both sides in terms of how to implement the passage through the strait," he said, adding that a call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, late Thursday left him with "a deeper understanding of the root of the problem."
He said de-escalation was the solution.
"Both sides genuinely want to have the ceasefire and to move ahead with the peace agreement," he said. "Nevertheless, there is always a percentage of accident possible, and because of miscommunications or provocations and retaliations, we have to be very careful."
