The China Mail - Turkey hosts latest diplomatic push on Middle East war

"I believe the window of opportunity opened by the ceasefire should be used in the most effective way to establish lasting peace," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the opening of the three‑day Antalya Diplomacy Forum at the Mediterranean resort.

"No matter how deep the disagreements may be, we must not allow words to be replaced again by weapons," he said, adding that "the shortest cut to peace is constructive dialogue and diplomacy".

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were due to meet later on Friday on the sidelines of the forum, with the war and the blockade of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz expected to dominate discussions.

A Pakistani diplomatic source told AFP the talks were scheduled to take place late Friday evening.

Pakistan has sought to position itself as a key regional mediator, having hosted rare talks between Iran and the United States last weekend that ended without a breakthrough.

The White House said further talks with Iran would "very likely" take place in Islamabad, where Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation during the previous round of negotiations.

-'We must be vigilant'-

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who met Qatar's ruler in Doha on Thursday as part of a regional tour, attended the opening of the Antalya forum and was due to meet Erdogan on its margins on Friday.

"We will continue to provide all the support we can to ensure that the ongoing temporary ceasefire turns into a permanent one," a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.

The source added that Ankara hoped the war "whose effects are being felt increasingly not only regionally but also globally" would end swiftly, with all parties engaging constructively in negotiations.

Turkey, a vocal critic of Israel, has joined diplomatic efforts with Egypt and Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict, while maintaining that the truce should also apply to Lebanon.

Erdogan did not comment directly on the latest ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon but warned against attempts to derail talks.

"We must be prepared and vigilant against Israel's attempts to dynamite the negotiation process," he said.

Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, Erdogan said access to the waterway must not be restricted.

"One side of Hormuz is Iran, while the other side is Oman. The right of Gulf countries to access open seas must not be restricted," he told the forum, calling for freedom of navigation "based on established rules" and for the strait to remain open to commercial vessels.

More than 150 countries are taking part in the gathering, including more than 20 heads of state and government.

Among those attending are Syrian President Ahmed al‑Sharaa and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Sharaa said he could consider "long‑term negotiations" with Israel over the disputed Golan Heights if Israel agreed to withdraw from recently occupied Syrian territories.

Since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al‑Assad in December 2024, Israel has deployed troops into a UN‑patrolled buffer zone that for decades separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

M.Zhou--ThChM