US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Istanbul and met with Turkish officials, beginning a week-long diplomatic tour aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas war from escalating into a broader conflict.
The most senior US diplomat spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday afternoon, after earlier meeting Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Blinken and Fidan discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as Turkey's process for admitting Sweden to NATO, a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The Biden administration hopes to persuade the Turkish government to influence other Arab states against joining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to prevent a broader and more costly war.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (right) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) prior to their meeting at the Vahdettin Pavilion in Istanbul, Turkey, January 6, 2024. (Turkish Presidential Office/Murat Çetin Muhrdar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A senior State Department official who accompanied Mr. Blinken told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Turkey has ties to many parties to the conflict, citing ties to U.S. adversaries Iran and Hamas.
President Erdogan strongly opposes Israeli military operations in Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes against the 2.3 million Palestinians living there. After the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied Hamas was a terrorist organization and called it a “liberation group” that was “fighting to protect its homeland and people.”
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On January 6, 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the presidential palace Vahdetin in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein/Pool)
Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostages back to Gaza.
According to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry, 22,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's tit-for-tat war to eliminate Hamas' ability to govern. However, Hamas officials do not distinguish between civilian and military casualties, and the reported numbers cannot be independently verified.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards a plane bound for Crete in Istanbul, Turkey, January 6, 2024. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein/Pool)
The new conflict in Gaza spills over into the West Bank, with Hezbollah terrorists firing rockets at Israeli forces along the northern border and Houthi rebels from Lebanon and Yemen attacking transport ships in the Red Sea. It's getting worse.
Mr. Blinken's mission is to persuade Arab countries to end these attacks and move forward with talks on how to govern Gaza if Israel achieves its goal of eradicating Hamas.
The official told Reuters that Washington wants regional countries, including Turkey, to play a role in the reconstruction, governance and potential security of the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007. .
Blinken is next scheduled to visit Greece and meet with Greek officials before jetting around the Middle East, making stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt and Israel next week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
