Turkiye heads to Arab League ministerial meeting for first time in 13 years

Turkiye will discuss the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza and ties with the Arab League when its foreign minister attends a ministerial meeting of the group in Cairo on Tuesday for the first time in 13 years, a Turkish diplomatic source said today.

Even though it has condemned Israel for its war in Gaza and joined steps towards Israel facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice, Turkiye has had rocky ties with the Arab League in recent years, reported Reuters. While it has mended long-strained ties with Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Ankara remains at odds with other Arab League members, including Syria.

When the war in Gaza started, Turkiye joined a joint contact group formed at a summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to seek an end to the war. The Turkish source said that the invitation to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reflected a “growing interest” in Turkiye’s regional role and improving ties with Arab League members, adding that Ankara wanted to increase institutional ties and cooperation with the group.

Turkiye’s ties with Arab League members can help promote “solutions to current regional problems and concrete future cooperation,” the source explained.

Negotiations are under way between Ankara and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to secure a free-trade deal by the end of the year. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saturday for an alliance of Islamic countries against what he called an Israeli “expansionism” threat.

The last time that Turkiye participated in an Arab League meeting was when Erdogan, who was then prime minister, addressed the group’s ministers in Cairo in 2011.