Erdoğan calls for dialogue to halt Iran-Israel fighting

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that Türkiye is prepared to take on a mediating role in the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, saying Ankara has been conducting intensive diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting since the outbreak of hostilities last week.

“Since Friday, both personally and through our foreign minister, we have been carrying out intense diplomacy to stop the clashes,” Erdoğan said following a cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on June 16. “We have clearly conveyed to all out counterparts that Türkiye is ready to do whatever is required of us, including facilitation.”

Reiterating Türkiye’s long-standing stance on regional diplomacy, Erdoğan emphasized that “from the very beginning, we have supported resolving Iran’s nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations, and we maintain this stance today.”

The Turkish president sharply criticized Israel’s recen strike on Iran, warning that the assault — carried out under the pretext of targeting nuclear facilities — has “very comprehensive and insidious aims” that risk dragging the region into deeper chaos.

“Trying to settle issues that could be settled at the table through destruction, bloodshed and chaos, bombing everything in sight without distinguishing between civilian and military targets, can lead to outcomes no one can predict,” he said. 

He warned Israel, which he stated was “leveling Gaza and bullying the region” that it was putting the future of its society at risk with every cruelty, bloodshed and crime against humanity.

“Israel may one day realize the gravity of its mistakes, but we fear by then it will be too late,” Erdoğan stated.

Reflecting on broader regional tensions from the ongoing war in Ukraine to the fragile stability between Pakistan and India, Erdoğan said any development in the region must be approached with consideration for the complex realities on the ground.

“Every step taken in our region without accounting for the realities on ground leads to further disasters,” he warned. “And these disasters usually result in the downfall of tyrants.”

The President emphasized that the regional and global implications of the conflict were not isolated to Iran or Palestine.

Erdoğan also signaled a shift in Türkiye’s defense posture, citing the rapidly changing security environment. “Given the recent developments, we are now initiating production plans to elevate out short- and long-range missile stocks to a level of deterrence,” he said. “In short order, we will have a defense capacity that no one will dare challenge.”