Politics
Türkiye pursues dialogue, diplomacy at UN General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly hosted a diverse array of leaders from around a fragmented world mired in conflict. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were high-profile figures in the Turkish delegation to the assembly. Speaking to journalists after his busy week, Fidan said Türkiye championed dialogue over conflict, diplomacy over crisis, and cooperation over division during the event in New York.
Speaking at a news conference on Saturday, Fidan said he had taken part in more than 40 bilateral meetings and multilateral gatherings, with Palestine remaining a central issue on Türkiye’s diplomatic agenda.
He stressed Ankara’s commitment to resolving regional and global challenges through diplomacy.
Fidan said the Turkish delegation brought up Israel’s genocidal policies in Gaza and its occupation and annexation activities at every meeting it attended.
He noted that in his 16th address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Erdoğan once again drew international attention to the plight of the Palestinian people.
The president also held 16 bilateral meetings, attended a high-level event on climate action and a just transition, and took part in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Gulf Cooperation Council leaders on regional issues. He also met Turkish citizens living in the U.S., Turkish and American businesspeople, and representatives of U.S. think tanks.
Fidan described Erdoğan’s address to the General Assembly as a manifesto setting out Türkiye’s global vision.
Fidan said he met with his counterparts from Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in an eight-country format to discuss Palestine. He also took part in meetings addressing last year’s New York Declaration and comprehensive peace plan. In addition, he held four-way talks with the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as trilateral discussions with his Syrian and Saudi counterparts.
Fidan said he also met the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia under the Mecca alliance framework for comprehensive consultations.
As chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, he presided over its annual coordination meeting in New York.
Türkiye also co-hosted a meeting with the U.S. titled “International Support for Peace, Unity and Prosperity in Libya,” he added.
Fidan said regional and global developments were discussed at an informal meeting of the Organization of Turkic States’ (OTS) Council of Foreign Ministers.
He also attended the 30th MIKTA foreign ministers’ meeting ahead of Türkiye assuming the group’s chairmanship in 2027.
U.N. reforms
Fidan said that during the high-level week, Türkiye contributed to U.N. efforts on migration, development, humanitarian assistance, dealing with climate change and food security. Turkish officials also took part in meetings on the Rohingya issue, the Alliance of Civilizations and Crimea, while Türkiye hosted a meeting of the Group of Friends of Mediation. He stressed the need for the international community to develop common solutions to shared challenges, reiterating Ankara’s position that regional problems should be addressed through regional ownership rather than seeking solutions elsewhere.
Fidan said Türkiye also reaffirmed its long-standing support for reforming the U.N. system.
Erdoğan has long pushed for reforms to the U.N., often using the slogan, “The world is bigger than five,” which refers to the Security Council’s unrepresentative membership.
In his address to the General Assembly earlier, Erdoğan argued that the current system gives disproportionate power to its five permanent members. “A system in which the will of more than 190 countries is subject to the whims of five countries is neither fair nor capable of fully inspiring trust,” Erdoğan said. He said the Security Council “must be reformed” in accordance with his longstanding principle that “the world is bigger than five.” Erdoğan outlined several principles for a fairer international system, including applying international law equally to powerful and weaker states, strengthening regional ownership of crises, and putting cooperation and open diplomacy at the center of interstate relations.
During the high-level week, Türkiye also outlined its priorities and initiatives for the COP31 U.N. Climate Change Conference, which it will chair and host this November, Fidan added.
Isolating Israel
Fidan said Israel is facing growing international isolation as diplomatic efforts increasingly translated international opposition to its actions into concrete measures and policies.
“Thanks to diplomatic efforts, Israel’s oppression and massacres no longer go unanswered to the same extent as before. It now has to pay a very heavy price for every action it takes,” he said.
He pointed to legal proceedings involving the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court as examples of the rising pressure on Israel.
On Erdoğan’s meeting with Trump and Gulf leaders, Fidan said the discussions focused on challenges facing the Gaza peace plan launched last year, including Israel flouting its provisions, as well as ongoing tensions in the Gulf.
Erdoğan also presented Türkiye’s proposals for regional peace, addressing the situation in Gaza, the threat posed by Israeli expansionism, and efforts to resolve the impasse over the Strait of Hormuz, he added.
Mecca alliance
Fidan said Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are continuing efforts to establish the institutional structure of the landmark Mecca Joint Defense Alliance, with the aim of appointing a secretary-general within two weeks.
Pakistan has proposed a candidate who is likely to be accepted by the other member states, he said, adding that further appointments will follow once the secretary-general takes office.
Fidan said the three countries also discussed military threats facing Saudi Arabia, including attacks by the Houthis from the south and other attacks from the north.
He said a military-technical assessment meeting had been held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday with the participation of Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu.
Fidan said he had spoken with Bayraktaroğlu to coordinate military assessments with the political approach and had also briefed Erdoğan.
Efforts for Hormuz
On tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Fidan said he had discussed Tehran’s latest proposal with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, including Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
He said he had also received initial impressions of the U.S. response to the proposal but stressed that diplomatic efforts have yet to produce a breakthrough.
“The positive thing is that efforts are continuing. The negative aspect is that they have not yet yielded any results,” he said.
Citing a telephone call between Erdoğan and Trump, Fidan said Türkiye wants diplomatic efforts to continue without a renewed outbreak of hostilities.
He added that Türkiye’s Gulf partners, who have been directly affected by the crisis both economically and militarily, share Ankara’s preference for a diplomatic solution.
Turkish-Iraqi ties
Fidan also spoke about Turkish-Iraqi relations, especially in light of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, which aims to disarm the terrorist group PKK. The PKK, which has killed tens of thousands of people in Türkiye since the 1980s, has its senior leadership holed up in northern Iraq, in a mountainous territory known as Qandil. The group obeyed the instructions of its jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan last year and started the disarmament process. Iraq also started the process of disarming all armed groups in the country outside the security forces, something that also covers powerful Iran-linked militias.
Fidan said Baghdad had adopted a policy aimed at disarming all armed groups in the country, including the PKK and affiliated groups operating in the Sinjar region.
He said the issue had been discussed during Erdoğan’s meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi at the Turkish House in New York.
“We are very pleased to see that the Iraqi side has set a political objective of disarming all armed groups in the country. This is a vision we support,” Fidan said.
Türkiye also maintains a military presence in Iraq in its bid to eliminate the PKK, against which the Turkish army has launched multiple cross-border operations in the past.
Fidan noted that Türkiye’s military presence in Iraq, particularly at the Bashiqa base, had originally been established for counterterrorism purposes in cooperation with Iraqi authorities. As Baghdad implements its road map to eliminate terrorism and disarm armed groups, Türkiye could gradually reduce and eventually end its military presence at Bashiqa, he said.
Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu met his Pakistani and Saudi counterparts in Riyadh as the three countries moved forward with cooperation under the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.
Bayraktaroğlu attended the meeting in the Saudi capital alongside Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Saudi Chief of General Staff Gen. Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, the Defense Ministry said.
The talks were held within the framework of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting brought together the three countries’ senior military commanders as Ankara, Islamabad and Riyadh continue efforts to deepen defense coordination under the agreement.
Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday to attend a meeting of military chiefs under the Mecca defense alliance, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
“Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu will travel to Saudi Arabia today to attend the Mecca Defense Alliance Chiefs of General Staff Meeting,” the ministry said in a statement.
The meeting comes as Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan continue efforts to institutionalize cooperation under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed by the three countries in August.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also discussed Thursday the process with his Saudi and Pakistani counterparts during a meeting held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Fidan met Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar as part of the Mecca Agreement for Joint Defense Foreign Ministers Meeting.
According to a statement published by Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry, the ministers reviewed progress made toward establishing a general secretariat, committees and working groups under the agreement, as well as preparations for the commencement of their work.
The ministers condemned in the strongest terms the heinous attacks targeting the holy city of Mecca and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
During the meeting, the ministers further discussed the current situation in the region, underscoring the importance of upholding the principles of international law, good neighborliness, mutual respect for the sovereignty of states and non-interference in their internal affairs, as well as ensuring the security and freedom of navigation. They reiterated their determination to work together toward achieving sustainable peace and stability in the region, support efforts towards de-escalation and encourage peaceful resolution to crises.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan previously rejected criticism of a newly established defense pact between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Speaking at a panel in New York on Türkiye-U.S. relations, he said it was too early to judge the effectiveness of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement by its response to the long-running conflict in Yemen.
Türkiye’s top diplomat pointed to NATO, noting that Article 5, the alliance’s collective defense provision, has been formally invoked only once since NATO was established in 1949, following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
“This is not fair,” Fidan said in response to criticism describing the new pact as a “paper tiger.” He said NATO was not subjected to the same criticism despite its decades-long history and argued that the newly established Mecca framework should not be judged against a crisis in Yemen that has lasted about a decade.
“We have just started,” he stated.
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia held the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee established under the agreement in Istanbul on Aug. 31. At that meeting, the three countries agreed to take further steps to institutionalize cooperation and establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia headed initially by a Pakistani secretary-general for a three-year term.
They also agreed to pursue cooperation in the defense industry, joint technology development and production, as well as efforts to improve interoperability among their armed forces.
The military chiefs of Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan planned an urgent meeting under their joint defense pact to discuss ways to support Riyadh following attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group, the Saudi Foreign Ministry also announced.
The meeting comes after Saudi Arabia said its air defenses intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the Iran-aligned Houthis toward Taif and Yanbu. The Houthis said they targeted what they described as a sensitive site in Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones.
Saudi civil defense authorities also issued warnings over potential threats to Mecca, Jeddah, Taif, Yanbu and Tabuk, urging residents to follow official instructions and stay away from gathering areas. Authorities later said the threat had ended.
Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said all six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis were intercepted and destroyed, including missiles targeting Taif and Yanbu.
Fighting between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthis has intensified in recent months, while the group has carried out missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.
The military talks come as Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan continue efforts to establish the institutional structure of their new defense framework.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that retired Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood had been appointed the first secretary-general of the Mecca defense alliance.
Mahmood will head the alliance’s general secretariat in Riyadh for a three-year term.
The three countries previously agreed that the secretary-general position would rotate among members, with Pakistan holding the post first.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday that a joint defense pact between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not directed against Iran, Israel or any other country, describing the agreement as part of a shared effort to promote regional security and stability.
In an interview with U.S. magazine Newsweek, Erdoğan addressed Türkiye’s foreign policy priorities amid conflicts across the Middle East and the continuing Russia-Ukraine war.
“It would not be correct to regard the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement as an alliance established against Iran, Israel or any third country,” Erdoğan stressed. “This agreement is an expression of the shared responsibility we have undertaken to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous future.”
The Mecca agreement, signed on Aug. 7 by Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Mecca, establishes a collective defense framework among the three countries. Under the pact, an armed attack against any one of the three countries is considered an attack against all of them. The agreement also calls for broader defense cooperation and collective deterrence.
The Turkish president underlined that Türkiye’s broader diplomatic priority was to prevent existing conflicts from spreading and to keep channels for negotiations open.
“Conflicts directly affect the security, economy and stability of our region. At times like these, it is the shared responsibility of the international community to expand the space for diplomacy rather than narrow it,” said Erdoğan.
Territorial integrity in Syria
Turning to Syria, Erdoğan said all armed groups in the country should be integrated into the central state structure, arguing that such a process was necessary to reinforce Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and social unity.
He stated that Ankara supported a process based on equal citizenship that would allow all Syrians, including Kurds, to live under what he described as safer, freer and more prosperous conditions.
The U.S.-backed YPG terrorist group announced on Aug. 25 that its so-called autonomous administration and all its military and civilian structures have been dissolved following an agreement with Damascus on military integration.
The president also addressed the PKK terrorist group’s decision to dissolve and disarm, describing it as an important step but saying implementation on the ground would be critical.
A landmark law establishing the legal framework for Türkiye’s ongoing terror-free initiative entered into force last month after being published in the Official Gazette, marking a new phase in Ankara’s efforts to end decades of PKK terrorism and strengthen social cohesion.
The law does not constitute a general amnesty and does not eliminate existing convictions, change the legal classification of crimes or broadly remove criminal liability, according to the justification accompanying the legislation.
Erdoğan said all elements of the group must disarm and its organizational structure must be dismantled, with the process verified by Turkish state institutions.
He also warned that Ankara was closely monitoring attempts by the PKK and its Iranian affiliate PJAK to take advantage of developments in Iran.
He said Iran’s domestic issues should be resolved by the Iranian people without foreign intervention, warning that the exploitation of ethnic and sectarian divisions could fuel prolonged regional instability.
Russia-Ukraine talks
On the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdoğan remarked that Türkiye remained concerned about the possibility of the conflict spreading to other countries.
He called for restraint over allegations of sabotage and hybrid activities in Europe, saying such claims should be assessed based on solid evidence and that steps that could further escalate tensions should be avoided.
Erdoğan said Türkiye’s approach to the war had remained unchanged for more than four years and pointed to previous Istanbul talks, the Black Sea grain initiative and prisoner exchanges as examples of Ankara’s ability to maintain contact with both Moscow and Kyiv.
“Türkiye is a strong NATO ally,” Erdoğan underlined, adding that Ankara could simultaneously maintain direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian leadership.
“There is no contradiction in this,” he said. “To mediate, you need to be able to talk to both sides of the conflict.”
Erdoğan said Black Sea security remained a priority for Ankara, particularly protecting civilian shipping, trade routes and energy infrastructure.
He called for a mechanism to provide lasting security for commercial shipping in the Black Sea and said Türkiye was continuing contacts with both sides.
“As the war continues, the humanitarian, economic and political costs are growing,” the president noted.
Türkiye is prepared to help bring the sides back to the negotiating table if the necessary political will emerges, he added.
Turkish officials on Thursday condemned remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following the Turkish leader’s address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Türkiye’s head of communications Burhanettin Duran criticized Katz’s comments, saying they would not obscure events in Gaza or the accusations facing the Israeli government over its conduct in the Palestinian enclave.
Katz earlier called Erdoğan a “paper sultan” and described his U.N. speech as “anti-Semitic and inciting.” He also made other empty accusatory remarks about the Turkish president and criticized Ankara’s regional policies.
Duran rejected Katz’s remarks in a post on Türkiye’s NSosyal platform and said the Israeli government was facing serious allegations from the international community and under international law over Gaza.
Referring to Katz’s apparent reference to a Turkish television series in his social media post, Duran said history was not always learned from television but was written in the collective memories of nations.
“Today, history is being written before our very eyes,” Duran noted, adding that Türkiye would continue to advocate for justice, peace and the rights of oppressed people under Erdoğan’s leadership.
Hayati Yazıcı, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), separately criticized Katz’s remarks. Yazıcı said Katz’s comments would not change Türkiye’s position on Gaza or the arguments Erdoğan presented during his U.N. address.
He said Türkiye would continue to support Palestinian rights and argued that criticism directed at Erdoğan would not divert attention from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Erdoğan used his address to the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday to sharply criticize Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, and call for greater international pressure on the Israeli government.
The president described Gaza as “the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time” and slammed Israel for pursuing a “genocidal mentality with an insatiable appetite for killing.”
Saying Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was unable to attend the gathering for a second consecutive year, he pledged that Türkiye would continue to raise the Palestinian people’s voice from the U.N. podium.
“This injustice against our Palestinian brothers and sisters deeply wounds our conscience,” Erdoğan noted. “Just as last year, this year we will be the voice of a free and sovereign Palestinian state.”
He urged countries that have not recognized a Palestinian state to reconsider their positions and described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as unacceptable.
Members of the Israeli delegation walked out of the hall during Erdoğan’s remarks as he addressed Israel’s bloody actions in Gaza.
“If necessary, we will endure hardships and pay the price, but we will not remain silent in the face of injustice. We will never consent to oppression,” the Turkish president said, adding, “They will not escape the wrath of Allah.”
Last week, 21 people, including 12 children, were killed in Gaza City after a six-story building that had been hit repeatedly by Israeli airstrikes collapsed.
According to the U.N., 84% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and Gaza’s civil defense says 2,000 buildings across the territory are at risk of collapse.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Friday that Türkiye will build a future marked by unity, stronger democracy and an end to terrorism, as he outlined progress in the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative.
Speaking to parliamentary reporters at a meeting marking the fourth year of the 28th parliamentary term, Kurtulmuş said lawmakers submitted 571 bills during the legislative year.
He highlighted the work of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission as one of the parliament’s most significant initiatives. The 50-member commission held 21 meetings totaling 90 hours and heard from civil society groups, academics, politicians and former parliamentary speakers from across the country.
Its report was approved Feb. 18 with the support of 47 lawmakers, which Kurtulmuş described as opening the way for the “terror-Free Türkiye” process. A subsequent bill on strengthening national solidarity and social integration was approved with 467 votes, which he called the broadest parliamentary consensus ever reached on a bill.
Kurtulmuş said the process now represents a new path toward a terror-free Türkiye and a terror-free region, adding that developments in the region showed the initiative was moving beyond an aspiration.
He cited the ongoing integration of YPG elements in Syria as an important step and said a process to disarm armed militias in Iraq would begin in early October.
Kurtulmuş said a high-level coordination and implementation board chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz had begun work, while Parliament would establish a monitoring commission after reopening.
He said Parliament’s responsibilities would include closely monitoring the process, ensuring that disarmament efforts comply with the law, coordinating with the executive board and considering any necessary legislation.
Responding to questions, Kurtulmuş said the process would continue despite attempts to provoke or disrupt it. Unlike other conflict-resolution processes that involve an outside mediator or “third eye,” he said, Türkiye’s process would have no foreign third party.
“The third eye is the nation itself,” Kurtulmuş said, referring to Parliament as the institution representing the people.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for closer coordination among Turkic states in the face of mounting global and regional challenges during talks in New York, as Türkiye seeks to strengthen the Organization of Turkic States’ (OTS) international role and visibility.
Fidan attended an informal meeting of the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting, hosted by Azerbaijan, brought together representatives from Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as observer states the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Turkmenistan and the OTS secretary-general.
During his address, Fidan stressed the importance of Turkic states acting with a shared vision and maintaining close coordination in responding to regional and global challenges.
He also outlined Türkiye’s vision for increasing the OTS’ effectiveness and visibility on the international stage.
The ministers discussed preparations for the 13th OTS Summit, scheduled to be hosted by Türkiye in Ankara on Oct. 29-30. They also exchanged views on global and regional issues affecting the Turkic world and considered steps to deepen the organization’s institutional cooperation with international bodies.
The gathering marked the fourth informal meeting of the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers in 2026, following meetings in Istanbul on March 7, Antalya on April 18 on the sidelines of the fifth Antalya Diplomacy Forum, and Turkistan on May 15 alongside an informal OTS summit.
In a joint statement adopted after the New York meeting, the ministers emphasized the importance of securing observer status for the OTS at the U.N. General Assembly. The statement also called for strengthening the organization’s international role and expanding its capacity to establish institutional ties with international and regional actors.
Separately, Fidan continued his diplomatic contacts in New York by meeting Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly high-level week.
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