Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held separate phone calls Tuesday with Libya’s Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and eastern-based Libyan National Army Deputy Commander Saddam Haftar following the Libyan parliament’s approval of a landmark maritime boundary agreement with Türkiye.

According to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources, Fidan thanked Dbeibah and Haftar for the adoption by Libya’s House of Representatives of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas between Türkiye and Libya.

Libya’s House of Representatives approved the maritime jurisdiction agreement with Türkiye on Tuesday, reversing its previous rejection of the deal.

Türkiye and Libya signed the delimitation agreement in November 2019, establishing the boundaries of their respective maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean Sea.

The agreement confirms Türkiye’s maritime jurisdiction across the vast Mediterranean and will likely anger Greece, which competes with Türkiye for economic benefits and more maritime rights. The agreement also cements Türkiye’s clout in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek Cypriots, Greece and Israel recently stepped up cooperation. The deal was registered by the U.N. in October 2020, but the disagreement between Tobruk-based and Tripoli-based powers prevented the implementation of the delimitation deal. Greece has lobbied Khalifa Haftar against the agreement, claiming that it would infringe its own rights in the Mediterranean maritime zone.

The deal includes provisions for Turkish hydrocarbon exploration within Libya’s territorial waters. In 2022, the two countries signed a hydrocarbon memorandum of understanding, paving the way for Turkish companies to conduct seismic surveys and drilling operations. The agreement took a new turn on June 25, 2025, when the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) for a 2D seismic survey in the Libyan waters. Under the memorandum, the TPAO will conduct surveys in four offshore blocks off the Libyan coast, over an area covering 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles). The data collected during the surveys will be processed within nine months.

Meanwhile, Fidan on Tuesday also addressed participants and took questions at the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank, diplomatic sources said.

Fidan spoke at the center during his visit to Brussels for the fourth meeting of the Turkish and Belgian foreign, justice, and interior ministers, the sources added.

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Belgium emphasized Türkiye’s strategic importance to European security Tuesday as senior ministers from both countries met in Brussels, reviving high-level bilateral dialogue after a decadelong hiatus.

Seven Belgian and Turkish ministers gathered at Egmont Palace to strengthen cooperation on security, justice, migration and economic relations.

The Turkish delegation included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, while Belgium was represented by Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot and senior ministers responsible for justice, security and migration.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry described Türkiye as a crucial strategic partner, citing its NATO membership, role in Black Sea security and diplomatic engagement with both Russia and Ukraine.

“You cannot seriously discuss European security without engaging with Türkiye,” Prevot said, highlighting Ankara’s influence in regions vital to European stability.

He also pointed to Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, particularly Gaza and Syria, as well as the Horn of Africa.

Security cooperation

Counterterrorism and organized crime dominated discussions, with both sides working toward a bilateral police cooperation action plan aimed at strengthening coordination between law enforcement agencies.

The proposed agreement would facilitate faster intelligence-sharing, joint training and exchanges of expertise to tackle cross-border criminal networks.

Belgian Security and Home Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin stressed that closer cooperation was essential as organized crime increasingly operated across national borders.

The ministers also discussed strengthening judicial cooperation while maintaining respect for the rule of law and fundamental legal safeguards.

Migration, economic ties

Migration management emerged as another priority, with officials exploring closer coordination on migration policies and consular affairs.

Belgian Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt described Türkiye as an important partner for Belgium and the European Union, emphasizing that effective migration management required cooperation beyond EU borders.

Beyond security and migration, Belgium expressed interest in expanding bilateral ties in defense, energy, industry, innovation and trade.

The talks marked the resumption of a high-level diplomatic mechanism that had remained inactive for 10 years, underscoring both countries’ efforts to deepen cooperation amid evolving European and regional security challenges.

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Cemalettin Kani Torun, Türkiye’s former ambassador to Somalia who once served as a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), rejoined it on Tuesday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented Torun with a party badge at a ceremony on the sidelines of a meeting of the party’s Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK).

Torun resigned from the New Path bloc in Parliament in August and has been independent since. The AK Party now has 281 seats in Parliament. The party won 268 seats at the 2023 legislative elections and since then, transferred lawmakers from the opposition, including three in August.

AK Party has also attracted mayors from the opposition parties in the past two years. Dozens of mayors joined the party in that period. The most recent high-profile transfer was Cemil Tugay, mayor of Türkiye’s third-largest city, Izmir, which has long been a stronghold of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

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Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhürman pledged Monday to pursue diplomacy and dialogue to strengthen mutual trust, advance efforts toward a settlement of the Cyprus dispute and end the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots.

Erhürman’s remarks followed a response from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to a letter he sent Aug. 28, raising concerns over Greek Cypriot efforts to cancel festivals and activities organized by a Barcelona soccer school, as well as attempts to obstruct contacts with foreign diplomats.

According to Erhürman, Guterres said in his Oct. 16 response that he had carefully noted the concerns and described the reported actions as discouraging and inconsistent with efforts to build mutual trust between the two communities.

Erhürman welcomed the U.N. chief’s position, saying it reinforced the Turkish Cypriot side’s longstanding concerns over measures that undermine confidence-building efforts.

“It is important to us that the secretary-general shares the view we have repeatedly expressed,” Erhürman noted.

He emphasized that implementing confidence-building measures remained a key priority, with the aim of creating favorable conditions for renewed negotiations toward a lasting settlement on the divided island.

Erhürman also expressed hope that Guterres’ letter would guide international actors in assessing actions that contributed to the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and undermined trust between the two sides.

He said that such measures contradicted international efforts to promote dialogue and cooperation on the island.

“We will continue working tirelessly through diplomacy and dialogue to build trust, pursue a solution and ensure our people can engage with the world,” Erhürman emphasized.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

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Muhammed Emin Sarıoğlu, the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led People’s Alliance, was elected acting mayor of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district on Tuesday, securing 24 votes in the third round of voting at the municipal council.

The election followed the death of former acting mayor Dündar Ziya Gültekin, who died in a traffic accident on Oct. 15, prompting the Üsküdar Municipal Council to convene to select his successor.

Only council members representing the People’s Alliance attended Tuesday’s session. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which holds 10 seats, did not attend, while nine members of the New Party (YP) and one independent councilor were also absent.

Sarıoğlu secured the position in the third round with the support of 24 council members.

The latest election comes amid political tensions surrounding the municipality following the arrest of Mayor Sinem Dedetaş as part of an ongoing investigation into the Üsküdar Municipality.

Gültekin had previously been elected acting mayor in a repeat vote on Sept. 8, defeating rival candidate Çetinkaya by 23 votes to 19 in the fourth round.

His election marked a shift in control of the district administration from the CHP, which won Üsküdar in Türkiye’s 2024 local elections, to the AK Party.

Tuesday’s vote maintains the AK Party’s control of the municipality following Gültekin’s death.

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As he unveiled his new “security concept” over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expectedly touched upon Türkiye, the main adversary of his government’s genocidal policies targeting Palestinians and growing Israeli expansion in the region. As he listed alliances in the region, he put Türkiye squarely into the “Sunni Diamond Alliance” with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, in front of a map apparently drawn by a German think tank.

Netanyahu’s press conference, where he was flanked by maps, is part of his campaign for upcoming elections and, unsurprisingly, was followed on Monday by a visit to an unspecified military base where he warned that they would “strike enemies at a moment’s notice.” He said that they were preparing various contingencies in case of a confrontation with Türkiye, noting that they were working to “stop” Ankara from expanding its military presence in Syria. Netanyahu also acknowledged that they had different views of Türkiye than U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced his endorsement for Netanyahu on Sunday.

Türkiye, which long championed the Palestinian cause, stepped up anti-Netanyahu rhetoric as the Tel Aviv government escalated attacks on Gaza since 2023. The two countries drastically cut off once-budding relations and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remains the harshest critic of Israel, describing Netanyahu as “Hitler” at times and slamming genocide committed by the Zionist administration.

Hazar Vural, an academic at the Political Science and International Relations Department at Istanbul Aydın University, says Netanyahu and his ministers stepped up their smear campaign against Türkiye, the government, Erdoğan, the Turkish army and officials. She singles out Türkiye as a different opponent for Israel. “With American support, Israel pursues policies that exploit certain regional actors’ dependencies, seek normalization agreements with them, bring them under control through territorial occupation, fuel separatist conflicts and manufacture artificial crises, all while continuing its genocide and occupation. But when it comes to Türkiye, Israel lacks the ability to shape and control Türkiye’s actions or its growing material power. No other actor has that ability, either,” Vural told Daily Sabah.

“We are therefore witnessing Israel confront a reality that differs from what it is accustomed to. This has been unfolding for nearly two years. What happened in Syria was a key example. As the government changed in Syria, Türkiye sought to help the country recover, build win-win policies and ensure that Syrian territory would no longer provide fertile ground for terrorism. Meanwhile, Israel bombed Syria thousands of times and tried to reshape the country. This makes it clear that Türkiye’s and Israel’s spheres of influence intersect in Syria. Over the past 22 months, the possibility of a confrontation between the two countries playing out in Syria was therefore very real, and we have already seen some preliminary moves in that direction,” she added.

“But there is an important reality here: Syria lies within Türkiye’s strategic hinterland, and Türkiye is directly affected by its security environment. Israel, meanwhile, is trying to reshape the region in line with its grand strategy. Its actions have obstructed Syria’s recovery, expanded its occupation of Syrian territory and demonstrated that it does not want Syria to grow stronger or recover. Indeed, Israel does not even want Syria to remain unified,” she also said.

Israel was quick to exploit the transitional process in Syria in the wake of the December 2024 revolution. It declared a 1974 disengagement agreement void and captured a buffer zone between Israel and Syria.

Assistant professor Sinan Demirtürk of Gazi University, who serves as chair of the Türkiye Policy and Strategic Research Foundation (TURPAV), says that it was clear that Israel was taking steps in Syria, Lebanon and the Mediterranean to counter Türkiye’s future military potential and its national defense industry. “It is also clear that Israel views Türkiye as a major threat and sees its emergence as a significant, peaceful and rational regional power as a source of concern,” he stated.

“Nevertheless, in the short term, a direct military engagement or armed confrontation with Türkiye, whether in Syria or the Mediterranean, would not be reasonable or justifiable for Israel in terms of its own survival, military capabilities or diplomatic relationships,” Demirtürk added.

Election narrative

He underlined that Netanyahu’s remarks were solely part of the election campaign narrative and sought to reinforce a political message.

Still, Türkiye has been cautious about Israel’s next moves in the region, after its attacks expanded to Lebanon first and then Syria. As a matter of fact, the launch of the terror-free Türkiye initiative to eliminate the threat of the terrorist group PKK was partly justified by the need to “establish a united homefront,” as its proponents, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), stressed while touting it. For decades, the PKK has been the utmost security threat for Türkiye both within the country and beyond its borders, as the group was based in northern Iraq and has wings in Syria and Iran.

“In recent years, Türkiye’s security and Syria’s security have increasingly converged on several fronts, including efforts to eliminate the PKK terrorist group, a consideration that also extends to Iraq,” Vural says.

“Türkiye is seeking to prevent Syria and Iraq from becoming casualties of instability and other terrorist groups. We can also understand the concepts of a “Terror-Free Türkiye” and a “Terror-Free Region” from this perspective,” she said. Ankara believes dissolution of PKK will also be a relief for the broader region.

As for the “Sunni Diamond Alliance” Netanyahu mentioned, Vural says Türkiye was “an actor with the strategic judgment to understand that it cannot entrust its security entirely to any defense or security pact of which it is a member, nor reduce its security policy to such arrangements.”

Türkiye joined Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August for the Joint Makkah Defense Agreement, which later evolved into the “Mecca Defense Alliance.” The alliance primarily focuses on security cooperation and faced its first test when Houthis in Yemen stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia this month. Türkiye has signaled that Egypt may also join the alliance in the future and offered substantial military assistance to the Kingdom.

“Netanyahu’s statements are intended to create a new perception of threat and lay the groundwork for new alliances and defense cooperation agreements against the Republic of Türkiye, particularly concerning Mediterranean policy and North Africa. In this regard, we know that Israel is seriously concerned about the Mecca Alliance, or a defense agreement based on the Mecca initiative, which Egypt could also join or participate in over the longer term. Israel is not assessing the current situation solely in terms of the immediate consequences the Mecca agreement might produce. Rather, it is looking at the issue in the context of the implications it could have for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean policy three, five or 10 years from now,” Demirtürk says.

“Over the long term, Israel is also deeply concerned that this military cooperation and common defense framework could develop into a new military formation capable of preventing its occupations, threats and massacres in the region. That is why Israel is already expressing concern about the potential alliance, which could take shape and expand over the coming year, bringing together Türkiye, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and possibly Qatar, by referring to it as a ‘Sunni axis alliance.'” “Israel fears the implications of such a grouping for its plans in the Middle East,” he added.

“These countries also oppose Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon and its military control in Syria, including in the Golan Heights and the Quneitra region. They have also pursued diplomatic efforts on international platforms against Israel’s occupation of the region. Over the long term, these countries are likely to seek to become a counterbalancing force against Israel’s occupation and expansionist policies. Even if they are unwilling to risk a direct military confrontation with Israel in the short term, their institutional cooperation will inevitably create a new framework and geopolitical landscape to counter Israel’s expansion. Against this backdrop, Netanyahu is already seeking to rally Israel’s radical right-wing electorate against Türkiye and, through the emerging Mecca Alliance, against Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. By creating a new perception of threat and emphasizing Israel’s security challenges, he aims to shore up voter confidence in his leadership,” Demirtürk also said.

Netanyahu’s election campaign crudely tapped into right-wing fears with the face of Erdoğan, next to Iranian and Palestinian leaders, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Hezbollah leader, all “wanting Netanyahu to lose,” as the prominent billboards across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem claim.

“While Netanyahu benefits domestically from problems and new conflicts by invoking Iran, the cost of this war for the United States is far higher, and its consequences are increasingly negative. It is true that Israel’s security is intertwined with American interests when viewed in the broader context of West Asia. It is also true that the United States is Israel’s greatest supporter in its grand strategy,” Vural says.

Vural noted that the Mecca Defense Alliance was the outcome of an approach Türkiye has advocated for years.

“The broader the alliance becomes, the more quickly the region’s problems can be resolved within the region itself. External actors would then be less able to reshape the region according to their own interests. In this sense, a new defense pact is being established to build something constructive, resolve problems swiftly and deliver win-win outcomes as part of this vision. Ankara has consistently emphasized that the aim is deterrence. Yet less than three months after the initiative emerged, Israel is already trying to attach a sectarian label to it, effectively restricting its scope along sectarian lines. It is attempting to create divisions by exploiting the sectarian card, which has long been used in the region and is all too easy to inflame. Israel also seeks to profit from these tensions by selling weapons. This fits its grand strategy,” Vural stated.

“As in the Flydubai incident, (Netanyahu) seeks to bring regional wars and new formations opposed to Israel to the forefront of public debate, thereby counterbalancing the opposition and rival political parties, which are ahead of him, in a sense. His aim is to consolidate the parliamentary majority once again alongside his coalition partners and the right-wing bloc,” Demirtürk said.

According to Vural, Israel would not risk a confrontation with Türkiye anyway.

Türkiye is the second-largest army of NATO and skilfully pursued relations with different blocs, countries otherwise countering each other. This is most evident in its relations with Russia and Ukraine at the time of the conflict. Israel’s major ally, the United States, also revived its somewhat dormant ties with Türkiye during the second tenure of President Donald Trump.

Implications, consequence

“Such a confrontation would also become a matter for NATO because Türkiye is a member of the alliance, whose collective-defense clause is relevant to security threats involving its members. The United States, too, would be directly implicated. This is something Washington would absolutely not want. Managing the balance therefore becomes, in part, a challenge for the United States, given its influence over Israel and the support and direction it provides,” Vural said.

“Israel, without American support cannot stand up to Türkiye or match its material capabilities, provided we set aside Israel’s nuclear warheads. Israel is a small state without a strategic hinterland, and its military cannot match Türkiye’s in a direct confrontation. However, Israel is an actor that behaves like a terrorist state, sustained by lawlessness and violence and operating without accountability before the international community. It possesses dozens of nuclear warheads for which no one holds it accountable, and it has become so reckless that it might even contemplate using them in Gaza. This would not merely be a matter for Türkiye, nor would it be just another regional war. It would be an act of madness capable of affecting the entire international system and leading to extremely dangerous consequences. No international system or actor would accept or endorse such a scenario,” she added.

“Given the founding principles of the State of Israel and the century-long trajectory of Turkish foreign policy, entering into a direct military confrontation with Türkiye on the ground, or triggering a war or conflict dynamic in the Middle East in which Türkiye could play a central role, would not be an easy prospect for Israel. This is also related to the fact that, despite broad segments of Israeli society supporting wars in the Middle East, including the massacres and occupation in Palestine, as well as the presence of Israeli settlers in Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli citizens may not necessarily hold the same views when it comes to Türkiye. In particular, the large community of Israeli citizens of Turkish origin, whose members migrated from Türkiye to Israel after 1948 and settled there as citizens, would be unlikely to support such a scenario,” Demirtürk pointed out.