Turkey 'Not Seeking Role of Mediator' Between US, Iran

Click to read the article in Turkish

Turkey is not seeking a "role of a mediator" between the US and İran, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın told a press conference last night (January 7).

"At this point, we do not have any expectations, demand, or claim to be a mediator. Turkey is among a couple of countries that can talk to both the US and Iran, maybe the most important one," he said.

Kalın also said Turkey will continue reiterating its call for acting with common sense and calm amid the US-Iran tension.

Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Forces, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, vice president of the Hashd al-Shaabi group, or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were assassinated in a US drone strike on Friday in Baghdad.

Iran, in response to the assassination, hit two Iraqi bases that host US troops with ballistic missiles earlier today.

Soleimani's slaying marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, which have often been at a fever pitch since US President Donald Trump chose in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.

Iran promised to take revenge for the killing of Soleimani and announced Sunday that it would stop complying with the 2015 nuclear deal. Trump has since threatened to target cultural sites in Iran.

Turkey sending troops to Libya

Turkey mainly cares for the immediate end of clashes and announcement of cease-fire in Libya, said the presidential spokesman on Tuesday.

"Turkey's priority in Libya is the halt of clashes as soon as possible, and a cease-fire," Ibrahim Kalın told reporters following the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

Last week Turkey's parliament passed a motion allowing it to send troops as military aid to Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), which has been besieged by forces of Khalifa Haftar, a warlord based in eastern Libya.

Separately, Ankara and Tripoli's GNA signed two separate pacts: one on military cooperation and the other on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Kalın also criticized the global community for not condemning attacks by Haftar.

"Haftar gets away with any kind of attack in Libya, the international community does not even condemn [him]," he said. (EKN/VK)