Turkey is talking to both Washington and Tehran in a bid to end the Middle East war, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday as the conflict raged for a 13th day.
“We have been experiencing the most intense moments of the war in the last few days,” he told a news conference in Ankara alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul.
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“The question is, what chances are there for negotiation, to what extent is it possible?” he added.
“This war should end as soon as possible... We are talking to the Iranian side, and we are talking to the American side,” he said.
“But there is an ongoing military operation, there are certain realities: this unprovoked attack on Iran is as unjust and unlawful as Iran’s attacks on Gulf countries.”
The war began on February 28, sparked by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran which lashed out across the region in retaliation.
Since then, said Fidan, Turkey had engaged in “intense” diplomatic efforts to end the confrontation.
“The task now is to prevent a further escalation of this war,” Wadephul said after the pair held talks in the Turkish capital.
“Then we will very quickly have to address the following questions: how can this conflict be resolved in a lasting manner, and how can a reliable security architecture be achieved in the region?”
- ‘A common interest’ -
Fidan also called for an end to Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, saying it had forced the displacement of “nearly a million people” and warning it could bring the country to its knees.
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“Israel’s attacks must end before the Lebanese state collapses,” he said, warning that if that were to happen, it would “profoundly affect the entire region” especially the neighbouring countries.
“The displacement of nearly a million people from their homes is absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
Lebanon was drawn into the war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel retaliated with ongoing air raids and sent ground troops into border areas, which so far has killed more than 687 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.
Some of Iran’s neighbours have long feared that any prolonged strikes or internal chaos trigger an influx of refugees, such as Turkey experienced during Syria’s civil war.So far, that has not been the case with the Iran war.
“It is entirely right and prudent for Turkey to also consider the consequences that the current crisis could have on possible refugee movements from Iran to Turkey,” Wadephul said.
“To date, we have not seen anything of the sort, but we have a common interest in preventing this from happening,” he added.
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