Turkey breathes easier as Iran-Israel truce eases fallout risk
As the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies.
Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a NATO summit for their third conversation in 10 days.
Erdogan's "intensive diplomatic efforts" to curb the conflict also involved calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian and top Middle Eastern leaders.
"Turkey has been trying very hard to de-escalate the situation, but it's not seen as a credible mediator, neither by Iran nor by Israel," Gonul Tol of the Washington-based Middle East Institute told AFP.
Turkey's ties with Israel have been shattered by the Gaza war and Iranians see Ankara as complicit "because it hosts this strategic radar", she said of a NATO early-warning system at Kurecik base in eastern Turkey that can detect Iranian missile launches.
Turkey has categorically denied radar data........
© Al Monitor
