Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has decided not to attend the 51st Munich Security Conference because of Israeli participation at a session on the Middle East.

Çavuşoğlu made the announcement at a press conference in Berlin on Friday after participating in Turkey’s West Europe Consul-Generals’ meeting.

The foreign minister planned to attend the conference where around 20 heads of states, 60 foreign and defense ministers gathered.

“But, we have decided not to participate in the Munich Security Conference because they have subsequently invited Israeli representatives to the Middle East session,” Çavuşoğlu said.

He also said that relations between Turkey and Germany were not restricted to the conference. “This is not an approach against Germany,” the foreign minister stressed.

However, Turkish Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu will attend the conference, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pawlo Klimkin are among participants of the conference which will continue until Sunday.