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Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended a preparatory meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Doha on Sunday, ahead of an emergency summit convened to address the escalating crisis in Gaza.
The closed-door session preceded Monday's joint extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League, which will bring together heads of state to respond to recent developments in the ongoing conflict.
The emergency gathering was triggered by Tuesday's Israeli airstrike on a residential compound in Doha that killed five Hamas members. The strike occurred as the Palestinian group was reviewing a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war in Gaza, where nearly 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
During the preparatory meeting, Fidan held bilateral discussions with several key regional leaders, including Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
The summit is also expected to address the long-stalled proposal to activate a joint Arab military force, an initiative first advanced by Egypt nearly a decade ago but never implemented.
Türkiye's participation underscores Ankara's continued engagement in Middle Eastern diplomacy, particularly regarding the Gaza conflict, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israeli military actions and a strong supporter of Palestinian causes.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture as international efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly stalled, despite ongoing mediation attempts by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
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