Turkey, Qatar leaders step up bid to protect Gaza ceasefire
- Last updated: October 22, 2025 | 20:02
Qatar and Turkey intensified efforts to preserve the fragile Gaza ceasefire, with their leaders meeting in Doha on Wednesday as diplomatic and intelligence chiefs coordinated to prevent renewed fighting, officials and sources said.
Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Hamas officials in Doha late on Tuesday, a day before talks between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Diplomats said the ceasefire has entered a highly sensitive phase and, asked whether the closed-door talks addressed Hamas's political future or a proposed Gaza task force, a Turkish official said no concrete decisions had been made.
"These issues will depend on how Israel and the United States position themselves during the process," the official told AFP.
Turkey's foreign ministry released a picture of Kalin and Fidan meeting the Hamas delegation led by Mohammed Darwish, who affirmed in a statement the movement's commitment "to a complete ceasefire despite repeated enemy violations."
"Efforts by Turkey and Qatar will be crucial to maintaining the ceasefire and shaping Gaza's future," Palestinian analyst Ahmad Al Heela told AFP, citing their ties to the United States and Hamas.
"However, Qatar and Turkey face the challenge of persuading the US administration that Palestinians must have a voice in Gaza's future — a step toward a two-state solution," he added.
During their talks, Erdogan told Qatar's emir the Gaza ceasefire "has provided relief to Palestinians" but said the two-state solution was the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue, his office said.
Turkey has taken an active role in talks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and voiced strong support for US President Donald Trump's peace plan, in what one expert said would balance Washington's pro-Israel stance.
"Turkey's entry into the mediation role regarding Gaza for the first time represents an opportunity to strike a balance in mediation efforts in cooperation with Qatar and Egypt," Vienna-based political analyst Hossam Shaker told AFP, saying it would help curb "the usual American bias toward Israel."
Erdogan has said Turkey was ready to join an international task force in Gaza, with its military also expressing willingness to participate if needed.
A Turkish diplomatic source told AFP the task force "is expected to have a military component" but its structure had not been decided, with talks continuing over which nations would join and at what level.
Turkey has also dispatched 81 disaster response specialists who are "waiting at the Egyptian border" for Israel's approval to enter Gaza, an official said.
They will help recover Palestinian and Israeli bodies, including hostages believed to be buried under collapsed structures.
"This is just a ceasefire that needs to be translated into a peace deal in the next step. Turkish boots on the ground will be important to move towards a multinational security force in Gaza," he explained, saying Turkey and Qatar would play a key role in "deconflicting" efforts.
Apart from the Gaza talks, the two leaders signed agreements including in defence industry cooperation.
Ahead of the visit, a Turkish security source said Ankara wanted to acquire some of Qatar's used Eurofighter Typhoon jets.
Krieg said it would likely involve the sale of around a dozen Eurofighters in a deal that could "happen very quickly."
"I think at most, they'll be selling 12 (Eurofighters) to Turkey and obviously that transfer will only take place once the new planes (ordered by Qatar) come in, probably by the end of the year, early 2026," he told AFP.
The Turkish official said only that "the details of the defence industry cooperation agreement will be clarified in the coming days."
Agence France-Presse