ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he was “deeply disturbed” by the Israeli-US attacks on Iran, but also condemned Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on the Gulf, demanding action to end the conflict.
The confrontation began earlier on Saturday with the Israeli and US strikes and quickly broadened regionally as Tehran retaliated against Gulf states and Israel.
“We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbor Iran,” Erdogan said in a televised address, in which he also denounced Iran’s drone and missile attacks against the Gulf as “unacceptable, regardless of the reason.”
“In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action,” he added.
Turkiye had “worked hard for a long time to resolve the conflicts at the negotiating table... but the trust deficit between the parties could not be overcome,” he said, vowing to “accelerate Turkiye’s diplomatic efforts” to bring the parties back to the table.
