Türkiye is ready to play a facilitating role to end the Iran-Israel conflict as soon as possible and to return to nuclear negotiations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications said Monday.
Erdoğan and Pezeshkian discussed the conflict between Iran and Israel, as well as regional and global issues in their second phone call since the outbreak of the conflict, according to the directorate.
The Turkish leader, who stepped up diplomatic calls on the conflict over the weekend, has slammed Israel’s “banditry” and said Israel was seeking to drag the world into “disaster” after a wave of deadly strikes on Iran.
Erdoğan also emphasized the importance Ankara places on preserving peace and stability in the region. Türkiye has previously hosted peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
In a separate phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan reiterated that Israel “threatens regional security.”
“The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk and the lawless attitude of the (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu government poses a clear threat to the international system and that the region cannot tolerate a new war,” Erdoğan told Putin.
The two leaders condemned Israel’s “act of force” against Iran and called for an “immediate” end to the conflict, saying room must be made for diplomacy as soon as possible.
Erdoğan also repeated his view that the only solution to the crisis was a return to nuclear talks.
“The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The statement said the two sides agreed to remain in close cooperation.
Regional tension has escalated since Friday after Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said that at least 24 people were killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since Friday.
Iran, for its part, said that at least 224 people were killed and over 1,000 others wounded in the Israeli assault.
Now in its fourth day, the conflict has drawn international calls for restraint and de-escalation.
Russia is ready to act as a mediator in the conflict and Moscow’s previous proposal to store Iranian uranium in Russia remains on the table, the Kremlin said separately on Monday.
Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly advancing uranium enrichment program has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon.
Russia said it remained ready to mediate if needed but noted the “root causes” of the conflict needed to be eliminated.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Putin could help.
Earlier Sunday, Trump claimed that Iran and Israel will have peace "soon," in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he also revealed "many calls and meetings" were taking place to resolve the crisis, without elaborating.
Speaking with Trump also on Sunday, Erdoğan urged the U.S. president to take “urgent action” to prevent the Iran-Israel conflict from enflaming the entire region.
He also lauded Trump’s statement on a likely solution to the crisis and reiterated Ankara’s willingness to facilitate a solution to the nuclear dispute that led to the conflict.
Türkiye adheres to its stance that Israel is a primary threat to the region, especially in light of its expansionist policies.
Ankara advocates that Israel was emboldened by the inaction of the international community and spread its conflict with the Palestinians to a wider region. This stance was evident in Erdoğan’s talks over the weekend, as well.
In conversations with Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders, the Turkish president said Israel's attacks on Iran jeopardize regional security in a region that cannot endure another war, adding that the Netanyahu government poses a threat to global stability and security.
The cycle of violence caused by Israel threatens the region, Erdoğan told world leaders, emphasizing that negotiations are the only solution to the nuclear dispute between Iran and the U.S.
Erdoğan has also stressed that Israel's attacks on Iran must never be allowed to overshadow the genocide in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 55,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023 and created risks of famine.
