Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan offered Turkey’s mediation to bring about a ceasefire between Iran and Israel as soon as possible and de-escalate the conflict before it ignites the entire Middle East region, in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian. In a separate conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan insisted that diplomacy is the only viable solution to Iran’s disputed nuclear programme and stressed that Israel’s attacks ‘threaten the security of the entire region’.
Turkish media reported in the last hours, citing sources from the President’s communication agency, that during the second conversation with Pezeshkian since the outbreak of the conflict, the two leaders discussed the current regional and global situation. In that conversation, Erdoğan – who has accused Netanyahu of seeking to lead the world to ‘disaster’– stressed the importance Turkey attaches to peace and stability in the region, and said that Ankara is ready to play a mediating role that could end the conflict between Israel and Iran and facilitate a return to the negotiating table over Iran’s nuclear programme.
In a separate telephone conversation with Putin, the Turkish president insisted that Israel poses a ‘threat to security in the Middle East’: ‘The spiral of violence that started with the Israeli attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk. The illegal actions of the Netanyahu government pose a clear threat to the international system, and the region cannot tolerate a new war,’ Erdoğan told Putin.
The Turkish and Russian presidents agreed to condemn Israel’s attack on Iran’s military and nuclear facilities on Friday – in which the heads of Iran’s army and Revolutionary Guard were killed, as well as a dozen scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear programme – and called for an ‘immediate’ end to the conflict. ‘The leaders spoke in favour of an immediate cessation of hostilities and an agreement on the disputed issues, including those related to Iran’s nuclear programme, exclusively through political and diplomatic channels,’ the Kremlin said in a statement.
Similarly, in his second telephone conversation with Trump in 24 hours, Erdoğan yesterday insisted to the US president that diplomacy is the only viable solution to the nuclear dispute with Iran. Trump, who has said in recent hours that he expects a settlement to be reached between Iran and Israel, has nevertheless stated that ‘sometimes you have to fight’ and stressed that the US will continue to support Israel, even though he has denied any US involvement in Friday’s Israeli attack.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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