ISTANBUL: Senior European diplomats will meet their counterparts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt in Istanbul on Friday for talks initiated by Ankara, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.
The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 group, will meet representatives of the newly formed R4 group to discuss the Palestinian issue, developments in Yemen, freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will host the meeting, marking the first gathering between the two groups.
The Turkish source said the seven countries would meet in the R4+E3 format to explore practical opportunities for cooperation and coordination in the coming period.
Fidan is expected to call for increased international pressure on Israel over settlement expansion and what the source described as its encouragement of settler violence.
He will also reaffirm support for Saudi Arabia’s security amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement and stress the importance of ensuring permanent freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Turkish foreign minister is also expected to reiterate Ankara’s warnings and proposals aimed at preventing the Russia-Ukraine conflict from spreading into the Black Sea and ending civilian casualties there.
The E3 was established more than two decades ago to coordinate diplomatic efforts concerning Iran’s nuclear programme. The R4, formed this year, brings together Egypt and the signatories to the Mecca Defence Agreement, a mutual defence pact established by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August.