Netanyahu sabotages ceasefire talks, Fidan says

SKOPJE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is personally responsible for the ongoing genocide in Gaza against the Palestinians, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said, blaming the Israeli leader for sabotaging ceasefire negotiations.

“The main one responsible for the genocide in Gaza is Netanyahu, himself,” Fidan told reporters at a press conference with North Macedonian Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski on September 5 in Skopje.

The already dire situation in Gaza has become worse with Israel’s provocations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and Israeli attempts to spread its massacres to the West Bank, Fidan underlined.

“Netanyahu continues to spread death and terror to stay in power. Netanyahu sabotages all efforts towards a ceasefire and continues to spoil the ceasefire negotiations by constantly imposing new conditions,” he said.

Even the Israeli people have increased their protests against Netanyahu, the Turkish top diplomat said, urging the international community to stop him. “Remaining silent to this massacre means to be a party to the crime,” he added.

Türkiye has been one of the most vocal countries against Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate offensive on Gaza which has killed more than 40,000 civilians, mostly children and women. It has also been warning the international community about Netanyahu’s intentions to spread the fire to the entire Middle East.

HH Problems in Balkan region need to be solved through dialogue

As for the Balkan region, where there are rooted problems between nearly all countries in the region, Fidan recalled the need to tackle these issues through dialogue and diplomacy.

“We should not even think about war, violence and conflict. In the past 20 years, the Balkan region has suffered from all these. We have experiences,” Fidan said.

“The only way to resolve these problems is dialogue,” he underlined, also urging that regional problems should be solved by the regional countries themselves.

The Turkish foreign minister reiterated Türkiye’s unwavering support for North Macedonia and informed that the two countries have started works for the establishment of a high-level strategic council.

After North Macedonia, Minister Fidan will visit Kosovo on September 6.