Ishaq Dar arrives in Istanbul for R4, R4+E3 foreign ministers’ meetings

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Friday arrived in Istanbul, Türkiye, to attend the R4 foreign ministers’ meeting involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt, followed by a meeting with the E3 countries — the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

DPM Dar was received by Director General at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Cihad Erginay, Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires Shaiq Ahmed, Pakistan’s Consul General in Istanbul Khawaja Khurram Naeem, Additional Secretary Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, and officers of the embassy of Pakistan in Ankara and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Istanbul.

According to the Foreign Office, the R4 meeting will provide an opportunity for the participating foreign ministers to exchange views on key regional and international developments.

R4 Group comprises Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt.

It will be followed by an R4+E3 meeting, bringing together foreign ministers from all seven countries. The Foreign Office said it would be the first meeting in this format.

The discussions will focus on key regional developments and explore coordinated diplomatic approaches to address shared challenges and promote regional peace and stability.

During his visit, Dar will call on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts, the Foreign Office said.

The E3 was set up more than 20 years ago to advance diplomatic coordination over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The R4 was formed this year and brings together Egypt with the signatories to the Mecca Defence Agreement — a mutual defence pact set up by Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August.

Top European diplomats will hold talks in Istanbul Friday with their counterparts from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt for a meeting initiated by Ankara, AFP reported on Thursday citing a Turkish foreign ministry official.

Foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group — Britain, France and Germany — will meet counterparts from the newly created R4 group to discuss the Palestinians, developments in Yemen and the Strait of Hormuz, and ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the source said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will host the meeting, the first to bring together the two groups.

“The seven countries will come together for the first time in the R4+E3 format, at Turkiye’s initiative,” the source said, indicating they would explore “opportunities for cooperation and coordination that could be put into practice … in the coming period.”

In chairing the talks, Fidan was to stress that “regional security first and foremost requires countries of the region to assume responsibility” and within that context, Turkiye “prioritises strengthening cooperation mechanisms based on regional ownership”.

He would also say “existing disputes should not be allowed to feed one another, conflicts should not be allowed to spread to new areas, and regional tensions should not be allowed to turn into broader instability”.

He would focus on the international community “increasing pressure on Israel” in response to its settlement expansion and its “encouragement of settler terrorism”.

He would also underline Turkiye’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security in the face of Houthi attacks and the need for permanent freedom of navigation in the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb Straits.

Black Sea security

Unrest in the Black Sea would also be a key focus, with the minister pointing to Turkiye’s ongoing “warnings and proposals” to prevent the Russia-Ukraine war from spreading to the Black Sea and to draw a line under the civilian deaths there.

Armed attacks on commercial ships, often with drones, have multiplied in recent months as the war has spilled into the Black Sea, with Turkish ships increasingly in the firing line.

Last month, Turkiye sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine to end the strikes, but it appears to have fallen on deaf ears with the attacks increasing in recent weeks, notably near Romania and Bulgaria.

NATO said Tuesday it was deploying additional planes, drones and radar systems to the Black Sea, calling for more “situational awareness” in the region through increased sensors and more data-sharing.