Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Israel’s attacks on Iran right before a new round of nuclear talks with the United States aimed to sabotage the negotiations, and it showed Israel did not want to resolve issues through diplomacy while his foreign minister accused Israel of leading the Middle East towards “total disaster” by attacking Iran.
Speaking at a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Erdogan urged countries with influence over Israel not to listen to its “poison” and to seek a solution to the fighting via dialogue without allowing a wider conflict.
He also called on Muslim countries to increase their efforts to impose punitive measures against Israel on the basis of international law and United Nations’ resolutions.
President Erdogan accused Western leaders of providing “unconditional support” to Israel. He said Turkey would not allow borders in the Middle East to be redrawn “in blood”.
“It is vital for us to show more solidarity to end Israel’s banditry — not only in Palestine but also in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran,” he told the OIC’s 57 member countries.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi earlier arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, Tasnim news agency reported, for a meeting with diplomats to discuss Tehran’s escalating conflict with Israel.
Around 40 diplomats were expected to join the weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes.
“The Foreign Minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ meeting,” Tasnim reported.
Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday.
“At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime’s attack on our country will be specifically addressed,” said Araghchi, according to the news agency.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of leading the Middle East towards “total disaster” by attacking Iran on June 13.
“Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster by attacking Iran, our neighbour,” he told a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.
“There is no Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni or Iranian problem but there is clearly an Israeli problem,” Fidan said.
He called for an end to the “unlimited aggression” against Iran.
“We must prevent the situation from deteriorating into a spiral of violence that would further jeopardise regional and global security,” he added.
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