Turkish foreign minister calls for urgent ceasefire in Gaza, condemns ‘savagery’ of war

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on the international community to take a more active role toward an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during talks at the G20 meeting in Brazil, a Turkish diplomatic source says.

Turkey, which has harshly criticized Israel for its war with the ruling Hamas terror group in Gaza and backed measures to have it tried for genocide at the World Court, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire.

Unlike its Western allies and some Gulf nations, NATO member Turkey does not view Hamas, which carried out the deadly terror onslaught inside Israel on October 7 in which they massacred some 1,200 people, as a terrorist organization.

Fidan told a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro yesterday that the “savagery” in Gaza must be stopped, and discussed steps to achieve an urgent ceasefire and get more aid into the enclave during talks with counterparts from the United States, Germany, and Egypt, the source says.

“Steps that can be taken to achieve a full ceasefire as soon as possible were discussed,” during talks between Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the source says, adding that Fidan also discussed “concrete steps” to stop the fighting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

“The fact that a decision on a ceasefire did not come out of the UN Security Council once again, has shown that reform is a must,” Fidan told a session at the G20 meeting, according to one of his aides, referring to a third US veto on a ceasefire call at the 15-member body.