The Turkish president, who has a reputation for being bullish, no-nonsense and tough, was clear when he addressed his cabinet on Monday.
He doesn’t want to Turkey Should be dragged into this war on Iran.
“Our primary goal is to save our country from this fire. Ensuring the security of Turkey and the peace of its 86 million citizens is our highest priority,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his ministers.
They had fired a second ballistic missile the same day Iran Turkey was withheld from NATO protection.
Debris from the interceptor landed in a field in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep. The first missile launched days earlier was also intercepted, this time heading towards Turkish airspace.
Remnants of a NATO air defense system in Hatay Province, Turkey. Image: Reuters
That incident drew words of caution from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who urged his Iranian neighbors not to test Turkey’s patience.
“We are not a country that is easily provoked,” Fidon said. “We talked to our Iranian friends and if this missile goes astray, that’s one thing, but if it continues, be careful…”
Mr Erdogan called for calm amid fears the conflict could spill over European borders. Image: Reuters
The president went ahead with an Iftar dinner in Ankara for ambassadors on Monday. “We wouldn’t have accepted Middle Eastern geography on the operating table a century ago.”
“Last week, and today,” the president said. “Ballistic missiles heading towards our country were neutralized in time and necessary warnings were given from the Iranian side.
“I emphasize once again that the war must end without spreading further in our region.”
The Turkish leader insisted he was actively working to reduce tensions and held multiple talks with more than a dozen leaders to try to break a path through the crisis.
On Monday evening it emerged that Mr Erdogan Had a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezheshkian. Turkey said on social media that it came at the request of the Iranians. Mr Erdogan told his counterpart that “Turkey does not condone illegal interventions against Iran and Iran’s targeting of sister countries in the region,” the Post said.
“President Erdogan has said that targeting brotherly countries benefits no one and all this must stop,” a statement from his office added.
The US Embassy raised its travel advisory to the country to level four, urging travelers not to travel to southeastern Turkey and ordering emergency US government employees and family members to leave the Consulate General in Adan “due to security risks.”
Americans in southeast Turkey are “strongly encouraged to leave now”.
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Security has been tightened along Turkey’s long border with Iran, and Sky journalists across the border have detected very little movement into and out of Iran.
Normally there is visa-free movement for Iranians wishing to visit Turkey and vice versa along the three border gates shared by the two countries. But right now, Iran is only allowing Iranians.
Our team detected limited movement at border crossings, with a greater number of Iranians preferring to return to their homeland, to check on relatives, than the numbers departing.
A Turkish soldier stands guard in front of the Kapikoy border gate in eastern Van province. Image: Reuters
Turkey’s concern over Iranian missiles near or through its airspace led to Ankara summoning Iran’s ambassador to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
And in a sign of the country’s growing concern about tensions, the country sent six F-16 fighter jets to Turkey’s Republic of Northern Cyprus as part of a “phased approach to enhancing security.”
The aircraft is expected to operate from Ercan International Airport, west of the capital Nicosia, and will be equipped to conduct air patrol and air defense operations over the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey hosts American forces at Incirlik airbase in southern Adana province but has not allowed it to use its bases or airspace in a war against Iran.
Additional reporting by Turkey producer Zeynep Bilginsoy
