00:00Minister Fidan, thank you so much for joining us.
00:02We understand you had a conversation with your Iranian counterpart, Minister Araqji, overnight.
00:08I'm just wondering if you could share with us the thoughts on Israel's attack on Lebanon and Hezbollah.
00:16What transpired in that conversation?
00:18Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me.
00:21It's a great pleasure to be here in Singapore in your studios.
00:25About the question that you ask, yes, late last night I had a conversation with my counterpart in Iran, Minister
00:34Abbas Araqji.
00:35It was about the recent Israeli attack on Lebanon because Iran thinks that they had an understanding with the Americans
00:45to hold ceasefire on all fronts.
00:48So that's why they engage the discussions and on talks.
00:53They think that the recent intervention of Israel and the invasion and operations is a clear violation of the ceasefire
01:06agreement.
01:08I think it will make it extremely difficult for them to continue with the talks.
01:15As a result, as you know, this morning, President Trump has issued a tweet in his statement that he spoke
01:23with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the representatives of Hezbollah.
01:27And they agreed on to hold the ceasefire and apparently the Israel has given up from the land operation at
01:36the moment.
01:37So I think the both sides can go back to where they left to continue to with the talks.
01:43I hope that they can reach an understanding within a few days.
01:46So you are confident and you're optimistic that we could see a ceasefire on Lebanon.
01:52Well, yes or no.
01:54Yes, I am confident that the Americans and the the Iranians, they are sincere on they want to have a
02:04ceasefire and they want to see the opening of the Strait of Hermes sincerely.
02:09But I am not sure about the intentions of Israel and possible repercussions of things that they are doing at
02:23the moment.
02:24So that's why I am cautious.
02:26I am confident that the Americans and the Iranians, they really want to have the ceasefire and the opening of
02:34the Strait of Hermes and the continuation of the further discussions,
02:37especially on nuclear files and the other related subjects.
02:41But as for Israel, they don't have any intention of seeing a stability in the region.
02:46So I am not sure about that.
02:47The interim peace deal is on again, off again.
02:51Yeah.
02:51Might you see a scenario where the U.S. gets impatient and decides, you know what, forget about it, and
02:56resumes the attack on Iran yet again?
02:59Let's hope that it doesn't happen.
03:01Let's hope that it doesn't happen because last time when it happened, you know, we saw that the global economic
03:06impact
03:06and because the especially the energy security and inflation, I am not only counting the cost of human lives
03:16and the destruction of the infrastructure and superstructure in Iran, in the Gulf countries.
03:23So and possible escalation of the war into further areas.
03:28So let's hope it doesn't happen again.
03:31But that's why the mediators and us, Qatar, everybody else, they are doing their best to help the mediators to
03:41really reach an understanding and agreement.
03:44We know that Turkey is hosting the NATO summit next month.
03:48I'm just wondering if there is any confirmation from President Trump that he will be attending that meeting.
03:54So far, as far as we know, that he's going to attend.
03:59Has he provided the confirmation?
04:02Well, this is how it goes, because he had fun conversations with President Erdogan over the last month a couple
04:09of times,
04:09and each time he said yes.
04:11Are you concerned that perhaps the tension between the U.S. and NATO might somehow derail the talks?
04:19Talks of NATO-related subjects.
04:23No, I don't think that the Americans have very much committed to continuation of the discussions.
04:28They might have different ideas on different subjects, especially the current administration.
04:33But it doesn't mean that they don't want to discuss about the NATO-related issues.
04:36Of course, they want to.
04:37But there have been indications so far that, you know, the U.S. might want to pull itself out of
04:41NATO.
04:42Well, those are the political discussions.
04:44But in reality, the military, the defense, the Department of War and the other related government departments, the State Departments.
04:54You know, I was just with Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, 10 days ago in Sweden.
05:00We had NATO foreign ministerial meetings in Sweden, the informal one.
05:06And I think we didn't get any kind of indication.
05:10You know, when it comes to really the real business, the Americans, both State Department and the Department of War,
05:18they are continuing their work to cooperate with NATO member countries.
05:25But, as I said, they've been making their points, especially on increasing the defense budget.
05:30And they want to see more ownership from the European countries on their security-related issues.
05:40So, I think they made the right point.
05:43And I think the Europeans, they've received the message.
05:47And that's why they adopted a series of decisions within NATO to increase the defense budget.
05:52When we come together in July, the first week of July, I think it will be, again, reviewed how much
06:02we advanced on that front.
06:04I want to talk about the impact of the Iran war on the Turkish economy.
06:10We know that the lira remains under tremendous pressure.
06:14And we've seen how, despite Turkey liquidating almost all of its treasuries holdings, in fact, 85 percent of it,
06:23the currency remains under tremendous pressure.
06:26What now?
06:27Well, you know, unfortunately, the regional crisis that's taking place around us is putting a lot of pressure on our
06:35trade and economy
06:37because it is, because we are, you know, a member of G20, but we are not rich in the oil
06:45and gas.
06:46You know, we heavily rely on our exports and our tourism because our economy, our industry.
06:53So, whatever crisis takes place in our region, it has certainly a big effect.
06:58So, the war in Ukraine certainly put a heavy burden on us initially four years ago.
07:06Before that, there was a COVID.
07:08Now we have war in, actually, in Iran.
07:12So, it put a lot of pressure on energy prices.
07:15In terms of energy security, in terms of reaching the energy, we are not like other countries.
07:21We are depending on the energy coming from the Gulf through ships.
07:24Because we have pipelines coming from Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran.
07:29So, on that front, we are okay.
07:31But it doesn't protect us from the rising price of the energy, oil and gas.
07:38So, the prices are affected, obviously, and it is causing, you know, pressure on inflation.
07:47So, that's why, as diplomats, we are working very hard to stop the wars, to create a conditional environment for
07:52peace, prosperity, and development and trade.
07:56Might you see a dollar swap line from the U.S.?
08:00We saw this happening last year.
08:02Yeah.
08:04To support the currency, for instance, to support the economy.
08:07Is that a possibility?
08:08Because, you know, we have Jeffries International suggesting that perhaps that may be happening.
08:13Well, I mean, as far as I know, as of today, I haven't spoken to our Minister of Finance lately.
08:20But I know that we have not had such a discussion.
08:24Would you be interested?
08:25Would that be helpful?
08:26Well, I am not sure.
08:27You know, I need to speak to Minister of Finance because he has the, you know, macro indicators and the
08:35numbers and the figures.
08:36And I think it requires a true discussion within our cabinet and, of course, the final approval from the President.
08:42But it could be discussed?
08:45Why not?
08:47Minister Fadami, thank you so much for your time.
08:48Well, thank you very much for having me.
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