Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah called for regional actors to “think about the future” and cooperate on all major issues, signalling a continuation in Oman's role as a mediator.

“We in Oman don't have any major agenda,” he added, while criticising countries that deploy negative tactics.

Abdullah was speaking alongside Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Al Razzaz, and Jane Harman the Directo of The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

A central theme of the panel was the fight against extremism.

“We’ve won battles, but we did not win the wars,” said Jordan’s Al Razzaz.

“We need to change the environment that extremism operates in, so that we don’t see ISIS version 3, or ISIS version 4,” he added.

Turkish FM addresses Libya, Syria

When asked about Turkey’s expanding role in the region, Turkey’s Cavusoglu discussed Israel and Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.

On Syria, Cavusoglu described the situation on the ground as “not very promising” and said that the Syrian regime had been increasing its aggression in Idlib province.

“We have been working with the Russians and others to accomodate the ceasefire there, but it has not been easy,” he said.

On Liyba, Cavusoglu said “since Haftar attacked, the situation on the ground is bad.”

Libya is currently in turmoil, with oil output grounding to a halt after the failure of the recent conference in Berlin, which sought to bring together the warring Prime Minister Fayyez al-Sarraj and commander Khalifa Haftar to sign a peace treaty.

“In Berlin, we gathered together with all the actors including P5 countries, and we all committed there for a sustainable truce or ceasefire. Al-Sarraj also did, but Haftar didn’t make any announcement,” he added.

Cavusoglu also repeated Turkey's reasoning for sending troops to Libya.

“Our personnel is there for training and education, nothing else,” he said. Turkey has sent troops to Libya to support the UN-recognized Government of National Accord, which has been accused of accomodating extremist groups.

When asked that Turkey and Russia were on different sides in Syria and Libya, Cavusoglu said that it shows Turkey's capacity to work together with other actors.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:57 - GMT 06:57