Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan poses with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, before their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, recently.
Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt and Pakistan on Friday described the Israeli occupation as “the main source of instability in the Middle East and beyond.”
They called for the urgent implementation of a two-state solution to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and the intensification of diplomatic efforts to end the Israeli-US war with Iran.
In a joint statement following talks in Istanbul, the foreign ministers from the four countries said Israeli policies had deepened a sense of injustice worldwide, and renewed their nations’ calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
They demanded a halt to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an immediate end to attacks by settlers, and the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, along with reconstruction efforts in the territory.
The ministers also called for renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent any further escalation of the war with Iran, and insisted that the crisis be resolved “exclusively through dialogue and diplomacy.”
They reaffirmed support for the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed by Washington and Tehran in June, and urged both sides to work toward a lasting, negotiated settlement.
Their appeal came amid the intensification of attacks by the Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthis against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, and renewed fears of a wider regional conflict after reports that US and Israeli forces had drawn up plans for possible strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure and missile capabilities following the US midterm elections on Nov. 3.