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A new secretary-general is set to take up the leadership of the Mecca Alliance within roughly two weeks, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, after the bloc's foreign ministers met in New York and Pakistan put forward a nominee for the post expected to win member states' backing.
Speaking at a news conference at Turkish House, Türkiye's New York mission building, Fidan said the announcement came amid a broader week of diplomacy tied to the United Nations General Assembly, during which he held more than 40 bilateral and multilateral meetings addressing Gaza, Gulf tensions and Iraq's push to disarm armed groups in Sinjar.
Asked about the institutional progress of the Mecca Alliance, Fidan said the grouping's foreign ministers met again in New York to continue work that has been ongoing since the alliance was formed.
He said the goal was to settle on a secretary-general within two weeks, and that Pakistan had put forward a candidate who is likely to be accepted by member states and take up the post; appointments to other positions would follow, he said.
Fidan also addressed military threats facing Saudi Arabia from both the south and the north, saying Türkiye's chief of general staff took part in a military-technical assessment meeting in Riyadh a day earlier.
Fidan said he spoke with the chief of staff to align military and political perspectives, and that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been briefed. He described Türkiye's armed forces as highly capable of responding to any threat and said he was satisfied with current efforts toward a more peaceful environment in the region.
Fidan said Erdogan addressed the General Assembly for the 16th time this year, took part in a high-level event on climate action and just transition, and joined a meeting with President Trump and Gulf Cooperation Council leaders on regional issues.
Erdogan also held 16 bilateral meetings, met Turkish citizens living in the United States, Turkish and American business figures, and representatives of American think tanks, Fidan said, describing the president's General Assembly speech as a document that laid out Türkiye's global vision.
Fidan said Erdogan again raised Cyprus, Türkiye's climate priorities and the "zero waste" initiative championed by First Lady Emine Erdogan, and outlined Ankara's goals for COP31, the climate summit Türkiye is set to host and chair.
Fidan said the Palestinian issue again topped Türkiye's agenda throughout the week. He said Erdogan used his UN remarks to highlight the plight of Palestinians, calling events in Gaza a test of the world's collective conscience and of the international system's credibility, while repeating Türkiye's call for recognition of a Palestinian state.
Fidan said the Turkish delegation raised what he described as Israel's genocidal policies and its occupation and annexation activities in every meeting it attended, and briefed counterparts on the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank.
He said he met Palestine-focused counterparts from Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in an eight-way format, and took part in discussions on the New York declaration and a broader peace plan. Separate meetings were held in a four-way format with the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and in a three-way format with Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Fidan said Erdogan, in his meeting with Trump and Gulf leaders, presented Türkiye's vision for regional peace, warned of the threat posed by what he called Israeli expansionism, and set out proposals for easing the Gaza crisis and unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Fidan argued that Israel's international isolation has deepened as a result of sustained diplomacy, saying the country now faces legal exposure at the International Court of Justice and international criminal tribunals that it had not previously encountered.
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Fidan said he met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as well as American counterparts in New York to discuss a package Iran has proposed regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and to gauge Washington's initial reaction to it.
He said the encouraging part was that efforts were continuing, though no outcome had yet been reached. Fidan said Türkiye's position, conveyed by Erdogan directly to Trump by phone, is that diplomatic efforts should continue without allowing a return to conflict, a view he said Gulf partners most directly affected economically and militarily share.
He said Türkiye conveyed that message clearly to Iranian counterparts as well, describing Iran as facing sanctions, war threats and attacks, and saying extensive discussions were held on how to manage the situation, restore peace quickly and prevent the conflict from spreading regionally.
On Iraq, Fidan said Erdogan hosted Iraq's prime minister at Turkish House for a meeting that touched on several issues, including the presence of armed groups in the country.
Fidan said Iraq has set a political goal of disarming all armed groups nationwide, including in Sinjar, an area where he said the PKK, and affiliated groups hold sway, a goal he said Türkiye supports.
He said Türkiye's military presence in Iraq has been centered on counterterrorism, and that as Iraq's roadmap for ending the presence of armed groups is implemented, Türkiye will correspondingly reduce and eventually end its presence there.
He said Erdogan conveyed that intention directly to the Iraqi prime minister, adding that Türkiye would take further steps once the armed group's presence in Sinjar comes to an end.
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