There is no way out and no future but cooperation and solidarity in the Balkans, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Tuesday as he hosted his Bosnian counterpart in Istanbul.

"Türkiye considers it a mutual responsibility to increase bonds of fraternity and friendship, as well as inter-parliamentary cooperation with Bosnia-Herzegovina," Numan Kurtulmuş told Marinko Cavara, the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s House of Representatives, during talks on bilateral ties, Balkan developments, the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel’s war on Gaza.

Expressing concern that the Russia-Ukraine war could destabilize the region, especially the Balkans and the Black Sea, Kurtulmuş repeated Ankara’s call for a "peaceful and fair solution acceptable to both sides" to the conflict, ongoing for two years now.

Turkish officials, chiefly President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have worked to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia since the invasion began in February 2022, thanks to its unique position of having friendly relations with both sides.

"Reinstating trust and stability in this landscape where both regional and global troubles are unfolding is a fundamental issue for us," Kurtulmuş noted, stressing that it was a "number one political perspective" for Türkiye to do so.

As Ankara’s foreign policy approach started to change with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) period, the Balkans were again designated as a strategic region, albeit not an area of priority.

Mutual visits and agreements saw a revival, and Türkiye tried to support the development of the region, underlining the importance of humanitarian bridges and presented itself as a mediator in tensions such as Serbia-Kosovo or the ongoing problems in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Türkiye is also a founding member of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), which similar to the Entente, aims at strengthening good-neighborly relations.

Being a Balkan country, Türkiye currently competes for influence in the Balkans with the EU, U.S., Russia and China, and ties are moving on in a positive atmosphere.

Srebrenica similarity

Kurtulmuş on Tuesday called Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza "an open massacre" and compared it to the Srebrenica genocide for being "not a war but a grave crime against humanity that humanity has not seen in modern times."

"This is another important regional problem, which disregards all international law rules or human values, that has the potential to fuel a major global conflict," he warned.

"Humanity has an obligation to oppose and put an end to this," Kurtulmuş said.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border Hamas attack into its southern territory on Oct 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 29,195 and injured about 69,170 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities. At the same time, less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Israel’s ‘desperation’

Kurtulmuş commended South Africa for initiating the ICJ proceedings and argued that the ICJ ruling would begin a new era in the Palestinian cause.

"The list of Israeli crimes committed is extremely long," he said. "It’s not only Netanyahu and his gang, but also the entire international community that does not speak out against this."

Türkiye has also three lawmakers following the trial and another group set to submit evidence to the prosecution documenting Israeli war crimes.

Kurtulmuş accused Israel of making "fresh threats" of increasing its massacres against Palestinians who have been taking shelter in the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border which Israel continued bombing after ordering Gazans to evacuate there.

"They are declaring to the world they will enter an endless path and destroy the people there," he said. "This is essentially a desperation that cornered Netanyahu and his government is displaying."

For his part, Cavara echoed Kurtulmuş’s sentiments, lamenting a "global silence" on the "dire events" in Gaza.

He also hailed Turkish-Bosnian ties for giving "strength and courage" to Bosnia-Herzegovina.