Fidan said a credible Palestinian civilian administration and a vetted, trained police force are needed to allow Hamas to disarm.
It would be a “huge failure” for the world and Washington not to allow the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to advance to the next stage, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Saturday, noting that President Donald Trump had personally led the push.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Fidan said a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force were needed to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was ready to hand over control of the Strip.
“First of all, we need to see the administration of Gaza being taken over by a Palestinian committee of technical people, then we need to see a police force being formed in Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not by Hamas.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s attack on Gaza. It played an important role in mediating the ceasefire agreement, signing the agreement as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the implementation of the agreement, which Israel strongly opposes.
Negotiations continue to advance the next phase of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year conflict in Gaza.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 6, 2025. (Credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
The plan envisions an interim technical Palestinian administration in the enclave, overseen by an international “peace board” and supported by a multinational security force. Negotiations over the composition and mandate of that force have proved particularly difficult.
Fidan said the Gaza police force would be supported by the international stability force. He added that Washington was pressuring Israel to join forces with Turkey, which he said was ready to deploy if necessary.
Fidan has said he is not interested in integrating the Kurdish SDF into Syria
Asked about a landmark accord in March in which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus agreed to integrate the SDF into Syria’s state structure, Fidan said indications from the SDF showed it had “no intention” of honoring the deal, and was instead seeking to sidestep it.
Ankara, which considers the SDF a terrorist organization, has set a deadline of the end of the year and threatened military action if it is not met.
“I think they (SDF) need to understand that command and control must come from the same place,” Fidan added. “No country can have two armies. So there can be only one army, one command structure … but in the local administration, they can reach different compromises and different understandings.”
Nearly a year after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Fidan said some minority rights issues remain unresolved and stressed that Turkey’s support for the new Syrian government was not a “blank check” to suppress any group.
He said Damascus had taken steps towards national unity, but Israel’s “destabilization policy” was the main obstacle.
Israel has repeatedly attacked southwest Syria this year, citing threats from militant groups and the need to protect the Druze community near the border. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday expected Syria to establish a demilitarized buffer zone along the border with Damascus.
US may lift sanctions soon: Turkey
Fidan said Washington’s initial 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was only a “starting point” and was now being developed into a new framework. He said the mediation by US officials was “on the right track”.
“I hope that nobody leaves the table and that the Americans are not disappointed, because sometimes mediators can be disappointed if they don’t see enough encouragement from both sides.”
Asked about efforts to lift a 2020 US ban on Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, he said both sides were working on it, adding: “I believe we will soon find a way to remove that obstacle.”
