Blinken: Turkey is committed to a ‘positive’ role in postwar Gaza
CHANIA, Greece — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing “a positive, productive” role for postwar Gaza and is prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening.
The latest Mideast mission by America’s top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to “not necessarily easy conversations” with allies and partners about what they are willing to do “to build durable peace and security.”
Mr. Blinken’s fourth visit to the region in three months comes as developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful U.S. push to prevent a regional conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Mr. Blinken held meetings with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Istanbul about what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease tensions, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin planning for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza.
In Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, Mr. Blinken later visited with Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence. “These are difficult and challenging times,” Mr. Mitsotakis said.
Mr. Blinken’s day was ending in Jordan, with stops in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday.
He will visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.
He said his priorities are protecting civilians, getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, ensuring Hamas cannot strike again and developing a framework for Palestinian-led governance in the territory.
“These are not necessarily easy conversations. There are different perspectives, different needs, different requirements, but it is vital that we engage in this diplomacy now both for the sake of Gaza itself and more broadly the sake of the future for Israelis and Palestinians and for the region as a whole,” Mr. Blinken said.
Turkey, and Mr. Erdogan in particular, have been critical of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war.
But Mr. Blinken said that “from our conversations today, it’s clear that Turkey is prepared to play a positive, productive role in the work that needs to happen the day after the conflict ends and as well more broadly in trying to find a path to sustainable peace and security.’’