Turkish Foreign Minister Hakhan Fidan spoke of alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean trying to encircle Turkey.

In an interview, Fidan said Turkey sees these efforts and is deploying diplomatic means to counter them. However, if it cannot deploy diplomatic means, the matter is referred to the military and security institutions.

Specifically, Hakan Fidan told the Turkish state-run TRT network:

“After I took office (as foreign minister), I told my colleagues that there are areas that need to be promoted through diplomacy. Namely, the Palestine issue, the creation of a regional security framework, conflict resolution, finding new markets, finding new energy sources, and dozens of other issues. One of the most important of these is the visible and invisible areas by which Turkey is surrounded. Visible areas of encirclement are areas of alliances that have been established to Turkey’s detriment.

There are areas of alliances that are being attempted in the Mediterranean and in the Eastern Mediterranean. We see them and are developing diplomatic measures for them. If you can’t develop diplomatic measures on certain issues, then you refer the issue to your military, to your security institutions, and more things happen. That is, you have to take diplomatic measures in advance that you can take.”

Elsewhere in his interview, Hakhan Fidan argued that there is a relationship between the presidents of Turkey and the United States, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump, which found scope in the Palestinian issue, specifically in the ceasefire with Hamas. “Yesterday, as you know, Mr. Trump asked to call our president, and he did. Invoking their friendship, he said he was confident that our president has already offered all possible assistance, but he pleaded with him to show his interest in this matter again, from his side.”

The Turkish diplomatic chief said that six to seven hours after that conversation, Hamas responded positively to Trump’s plan with a statement. “Now, if the two leaders see that their cooperation is really useful both for solving the problems between the two countries and for promoting the interests of the two countries, and also for solving regional problems, then this is a really productive relationship. I believe that this relationship can lead to much more beneficial results,” the Turkish Foreign Minister stressed.