Israel, utilizing an oft-used method of intelligence organizations, is seeking to move its conflict with Palestinians to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday.

Answering questions from Anadolu Agency (AA), he discussed the two days of pager and walkie-talkie explosions across Lebanon blamed on Israel.

Türkiye fears Israel will move on to its next target in the region once it crushes the Palestinian opposition for its expansionist policies. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned that Israel may set its sights on other regional countries along with Lebanon and Ankara has to vigilant against the Netanyahu administration's expansionist moves that will further escalate into a larger conflict for the Middle East.

"The escalation in the region is alarming," Fidan said. "We see Israel mounting its attacks toward Lebanon step by step."

The blasts in Lebanon have killed 32 people in two days, including two children, wounding more than 3,000 others, according to Lebanese Health Ministry figures.

Israel has not commented on the unprecedented operation in which Hezbollah operatives' walkie-talkies and pagers exploded in supermarkets, at funerals and on streets. But its defense minister, Yoav Gallant, referring to Israel's border with Lebanon, said Wednesday: "The center of gravity is moving northward."

"We have come to a point where these operations carried out by Israel have become increasingly provocative, and in return, Iran, Hezbollah and elements close to them have no choice but respond," Fidan said.

Fidan, who was head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) before being appointed foreign minister, said the method of mass explosions "is something that intelligence organizations use very often. But this one was on a large scale."

"While we are currently thinking about Lebanon, there is always a risk of a war that may involve Jordan, Egypt and the entire region," he said.

"Does Israel want permanent peace or does it want to eliminate everything it sees as a threat by using classical war methods?" he asked.

"Currently, the fanatical government in Israel is pursuing a strategy to eliminate all threats," he added.

"The international system needs to stop this before it is too late. This madness not only harms Palestinians but also hijacks Israelis' future."

Fidan, who has pursued an intense diplomatic push to facilitate a cease-fire, joined a meeting in Jordan to discuss the Gaza crisis on Wednesday.

He also stressed Türkiye's efforts to boost its cybersecurity awareness and the potential establishment of a new cybersecurity agency, steps that may be especially prudent in the wake of this week's attacks through wireless devices, which were launched remotely, without a single shot fired.

On the issue of Palestine, Fidan decried the ongoing massacre and "genocide" in Gaza and stressed the need to never allow anything like it to happen again, through efforts for a two-state solution.

Citing previous U.N. resolutions recognizing Palestine, Fidan highlighted the international community's growing awareness and support for Palestinian statehood, despite ongoing challenges posed by Israel's continued occupation and attempts to establish facts on the group that undermine prospects for a two-state solution. He said the U.N. Security Council veto was the only thing hindering the establishment of an internationally recognized State of Palestine, as more countries now started unilaterally recognizing it. He stated that the international community had now more awareness on the issue.

"Palestinians should have a state just as Israelis have," he said.

He lamented Israel's policy of stealing Palestinian lands since the early 20th century continues under the Netanyahu administration, which is supported by the West. He accused Israel of trying to make the international community forget the two-state solution and attempting to impose a de facto situation on the ground.

"Some Palestinians have accepted the situation on the ground and sufficed with what they had and inadvertently served Israel's policy of keeping the lands stolen from Palestinians. But the issue is back to the point where it should be now. The Palestinian cause is not something that should be solely a concern for our Palestinian brothers and sisters. It is an issue that concerns the Islamic world, the entire world," he said.

Türkiye has been a virulent critic of Israel, has hosted Hamas leaders and welcomes the Palestinian resistance group Hamas as a liberation movement, unlike the majority of the Western world. Ankara has called on the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. to exert pressure on Israel to accept a cease-fire proposal.

Rapprochement with Syria

On normalizing ties with the Assad regime of Syria, Fidan said Türkiye had no issues with normalization but expected more steps from Syria.

"They should make peace with people first," he said.

Fidan also reiterated that Erdoğan was willing to hold talks with regime leader Bashar Assad and that Ankara had already conducted talks with the Syrian regime in several "formats," from military to intelligence, particularly with the mediation of Russia and Iran.

"The regime and the opposition have a frozen conflict now. Things have been quiet and each side holds their ground. We always voiced our view that steps should be taken for a permanent solution to problems during this period of calm but sides should take those steps," he said.

Fidan stated that Türkiye sought a framework where the regime and opposition should reach a political solution.

For the first time since relations soured, Erdoğan in July said Türkiye would extend a formal invitation to Assad, who was once a close friend.

Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together. His invitation came after the Syrian leader in June said Damascus was open to all initiatives to revive Turkish-Syrian relations "as long as they are based on respecting the sovereignty of the Syrian state over all its territory and fighting all forms of terrorism."

The Damascus-based regime and Ankara sought reconciliation in 2023 with talks sponsored by Assad’s main backers, Russia and Iran, but so far, meetings of Turkish and Syrian ministers have failed to produce a solid result in normalization.

Fidan highlighted that there was a need for "managing" some issues before normalization. "Millions of Syrian refugees are abroad because of the regime's trouble with its own people. Türkiye hosted more than 3 million refugees and could have more if Türkiye did not intervene and provided a safe area for displaced Syrians within Syria itself. He was referring to northern Syrian towns and cities liberated from terrorist groups by the Syrian opposition backed by the Turkish army. He said some 5 million people now living in those areas still do not trust the Syrian regime to establish relations.

"Unless these people cannot have peace and a deal based on trust with the regime, Türkiye's concerns about more migration will prevail. We don't see the existence of a system that will prevent the arrival of more refugees to Türkiye, let alone the voluntary return of those currently in Türkiye. The Syrian regime should concentrate on ways to make peace with its own people," he said.

BRICS and EU

On Türkiye’s ties with the European Union and its membership process, Fidan said the rise of the far-right in Europe would not overshadow them as relations were already in limbo. "We always treated our relations with the EU as if the far-right was already in power," he underlined.

He said Europe cannot afford to lose a strategic ally in Türkiye. Fidan lamented the stalled process and said one of the reasons behind Türkiye’s outreach to BRICS was the EU’s failure to further the membership process.

Türkiye inches toward membership in BRICS while at the same time seeking to maintain close ties with the West, particularly the European Union. As Ankara aspires to pursue balanced ties in a polarizing world, President Erdoğan on Wednesday assured the international community that the balance would not be disturbed.

Türkiye's top diplomat has recently joined a "Gymnich format" meeting of EU foreign ministers in Belgium, after a long pause. The informal meeting was viewed as Türkiye and the EU courting each other again amid tensions in relations despite Türkiye's lengthy bid to join the bloc. Fidan mentioned his past meetings with top EU officials including High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi.

"We held bilateral talks and sought solutions to the issue of somewhat frozen relations between Türkiye and EU," he said.

Fidan noted that Erdoğan had a renewed vision towards the EU. "Türkiye has consistency in its foreign policy and has always been clear in its view of the EU. Our vision did not change," he said.

"Mutual will is a prerequisite for a country to access the EU. Türkiye's political will has prevailed since 2004 but the EU's political will changed starting from 2008. As a matter of fact, political will disappeared and Türkiye-EU ties on membership were left in limbo," he said.

The minister noted that the EU has long been a structure enduring economic problems and had the "umbrella of the United States" on security and geostrategic issues.

"But they now see that this is not enough and (the protection of the U.S.) is not always something people in EU member countries agree with. There is a cost and it is unclear how manageable it is. If the United Kingdom did not exit the EU and Türkiye was admitted to the union, the EU would not drift away to (the other side of) the Atlantic," he said.

On a question about the rise of far-right parties and movements across Europe, Fidan said their only concern was about the Turkish diaspora living in Europe. He argued that the EU has always been worried that it would "lose to the far-right" if it sought to advance ties with Türkiye.

"Thus, the EU lost a major strategic advantage. They lost the endurance to international crises," he said, referring to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

On ties with BRICS, Fidan said he was a member of a government elected into office and had to respond to people's needs and shape international relations based on those needs.

"If our relations with the EU based on our goodwill stalls, it is quite natural to seek other economic alternatives," he said.

He added that although BRICS had not fully realized its own specific structure and lacked aspects like the integration, common currency, finance models, investments and criteria of the EU, Türkiye was looking forward to "checking it out."

"We are not only close to BRICS but also ASEAN. Türkiye is already involved in other economic cooperation bodies. Due to its large economy, Türkiye needs more large-scale (international) integration," he said.