Anadolu staff
04 February 2024•Update: 06 February 2024
ANKARA / ISTANBUL
After its groundbreaking work on the Black Sea corridor, globally hailed as averting a global fuel crisis, now Türkiye wants to establish a new mechanism for exporting grains from Ukraine and Russia, said the Turkish foreign minister.
"There are ongoing discussions, particularly involving the UN, Russia, Ukraine, and Türkiye for how can we develop a new method for the transportation and logistics of grain to the world markets, focusing primarily on the Black Sea," Hakan Fidan told a private news channel late Sunday.
“The previous grain agreement, as you know, operated within a specific mechanism. Now it has been observed that there is a possibility to proceed with a different mechanism than that. Currently, we are trying to materialize that possibility,” he added.
Stating that Ukrainian ships cannot use Black Sea routes due to the risk of attacks, while Russian ships have been cut off from grain sales, Fidan explained that mutually solving the grain problem will benefit all countries.
"Currently, there are some Ukrainian ships de facto transporting grain. They are being loaded with grain and being taken away. This place is untouched by Russians. In fact, we want to formalize this de facto situation a bit with the current new mechanism,” said Fidan.
The grain crisis has caused a food crisis in undeveloped countries and has seriously affected global prices, causing humanitarian problems, he said, referring to the situation after the Black Sea Grain Initiative of 2022-2023, co-negotiated and co-implemented by Türkiye, unexpectedly collapsed.
Fidan also warned of a potential regional escalation amid ongoing US airstrikes on Iranian-backed groups that began last Friday.
"When you play with fire, that fire can turn into a blaze at any moment, becoming uncontrollable. We’re facing a risk here, and the issue of uncontrollability stands before us as a threat," he said.
Saying that Türkiye is in constant talks with the US and regional partners, Fidan said: "We need to avoid the spread (of confrontation) in the region. The situation is not good. We may face a bigger spread (of confrontation)," he said.
Underlining that the issue of Israel's security is constantly being brought up, Fidan said that in fact Israel prioritizes territorial expansion over its security.
He said Israel will feel safe after it stops "telling lies" to the international community and gives Palestinians their own state.
Saying that regional countries have repeatedly stated that they are ready to take responsibility, Fidan said: "When we brought up the two-state solution this time, the underlying factor was our proposal for a guarantor mechanism, making it distinct methodologically."
