Top European diplomats will hold talks in Istanbul on Friday with counterparts from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. Foreign ministers from the E3 group — Britain, France and Germany — will meet the newly created R4 group to discuss the conflicts in Palestine, Yemen and the Strait of Hormuz, and ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a Turkish foreign ministry source told AFP.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will host the meeting, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected to represent Pakistan. The source said the seven countries will come together for the first time in the R4+E3 format, at Turkiye’s initiative, and will look at opportunities for cooperation and coordination that could be put into practice in the coming period.
In chairing the talks, Fidan was to stress that regional security first and foremost requires countries of the region to assume responsibility, and that Turkiye prioritises strengthening cooperation mechanisms based on regional ownership. He would say existing disputes should not be allowed to feed one another, conflicts should not be allowed to spread to new areas, and regional tensions should not be allowed to turn into broader instability.
He would focus on the international community increasing pressure on Israel in response to settlement expansion and its encouragement of settler terrorism. He would also underline Turkiye’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security in the face of Houthi attacks and the need for permanent freedom of navigation in the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb straits.
Unrest in the Black Sea would also be a key focus. The minister was to point to Turkiye’s ongoing warnings and proposals to prevent the Russia-Ukraine war from spreading to the Black Sea and to draw a line under the civilian deaths there. Armed attacks on commercial ships, often with drones, have multiplied in recent months as the war has spilled into the Black Sea, with Turkish ships increasingly in the firing line.
Last month Turkiye sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine to end the strikes. The source said it appears to have fallen on deaf ears, with the attacks increasing in recent weeks, notably near Romania and Bulgaria. Nato said on Tuesday it was deploying additional planes, drones and radar systems to the Black Sea and called for more situational awareness through increased sensors and more data-sharing.
The E3 was set up more than 20 years ago to advance diplomatic coordination over Iran’s nuclear programme. The R4 was formed this year and brings together Egypt with the signatories to the Makkah Defence Agreement, a mutual defence pact set up by Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August.