Turkish foreign minister to visit US for Gaza

WASHINGTON

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday will visit the US capital of Washington, DC to hold meetings as part of a joint diplomatic effort focused on Gaza, the Foreign Ministry has said.

"The Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League, which was held on 11 November 2023, mandated the Foreign Ministers of Türkiye, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Nigeria to take international action to stop the war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Over the past three weeks, the group has held meetings in Beijing, Moscow, London, Paris, Barcelona and New York, respectively. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit also took part in the meetings.

In its talks so far, the delegation gave the message of starting a solution process -- that will be carried out through UN parameters -- for a permanent and fair peace after the cease-fire in Gaza.

They also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.