Antalya leaders' push

Türkiye brought together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in Antalya on April 17 as the four governments pushed for a bigger regional role in handling the Middle East crisis. (mfa.gov.tr) The meeting was the third foreign ministers’ session in this format, and it took place on the sidelines of the fifth Antalya Diplomacy Forum, held April 17-19 under the theme “Mapping Tomorrow, Managing Uncertainties.” (mfa.gov.tr, antalyadf.org) Anadolu Agency reported that the Antalya talks followed a March 29 meeting in Islamabad, where the same four countries discussed the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and agreed to carry their deliberations forward to Antalya. (aa.com.tr) Arab News, citing Pakistan’s Foreign Office, said the four ministers in earlier talks discussed ways to secure an early and permanent end to the war in the Middle East and to de-escalate a crisis that had disrupted energy routes and air travel. (arabnews.com, arabnews.com) The Antalya session came as Pakistan stepped up mediation efforts between Washington and Tehran, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the recent crisis had exposed the need for “a new regional security architecture” and praised the coordination among the four countries’ foreign ministers. (arabnews.com, aa.com.tr) That phrase — regional security architecture — means the governments closest to the conflict want more say over ceasefires, trade routes and crisis management, instead of leaving those questions mainly to outside powers. (aa.com.tr, aa.com.tr) The Antalya forum itself gave that push a larger stage. Anadolu said more than 20 heads of state, more than 50 ministers and about 5,000 participants were expected at this year’s gathering. (aa.com.tr) Türkiye has used the forum in recent years to position itself as a convening power between Arab states, Asian partners and Western governments, and this week’s quadrilateral format fit that role closely. (antalyadf.org, aa.com.tr) No joint communique released publicly on April 19 appeared to announce a formal new bloc or treaty, and the Turkish Foreign Ministry described the Antalya event as a ministers’ meeting rather than a new institution. (mfa.gov.tr) What Antalya did show is that the same four capitals have now met in Islamabad and Antalya within three weeks, tying their diplomacy to the war’s spillover and to a longer-running effort to keep security and trade talks anchored in the region. (aa.com.tr, mfa.gov.tr)