Ankara- In light of the escalating confrontation between Israel and Iran, a diplomatic and security movement prevails in the decision -making circles in Türkiye, starting from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, through the government and ending with security institutions.
Hours after the start of the Israeli attack, Dana Erdogan said – in a written statement – that “the international community should put an end to the behavior of the Israeli road segment that targets regional and international stability.”
He added that the Israeli government “is trying with its reckless and aggressive behavior, which does not recognize the law, dragged our region and the whole world towards a disaster,” calling for “the curb of the attacks by the killing network led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is required for the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, which ignite fire in our entire region.”
Turkish moves
The Turkish media reported that Erdogan held an emergency security meeting with the leaders of the security institutions in the presidential palace in Ankara, after an expanded meeting in which Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan participated, the Minister of Defense Yoshar Guller, the head of the intelligence service Ibrahim Qalan, and the Chief of General Staff Metin Gourak.
In a special statement to Al -Jazeera Net, a spokesman for the Justice and Development Party, Omar Chlik, who attended the meeting, said that “from the first moment of the Israeli attack, we condemned it in the strongest terms,” stressing that Turkey’s position towards the Israeli aggression has not changed since the war began on the Gaza Strip.
“We have always warned of the danger of the expansion of the destroyed Israeli occupation policy in the region, and this has been achieved. Gaza, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon have been subjected to Israeli attacks. Today, Iran is facing the same fate.”
The meetings coincided with extensive diplomatic contacts, as Erdogan made a phone call to his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Al -Shara, in which they discussed the need for Syria to remain outside this conflict, and discussed possible ways to deter the Israeli aggression.
He also made two phone calls with his American counterpart Donald Trump, and assured him that “nuclear negotiations are the only way to resolve the dispute,” and said, “We in Turkey are ready to do everything we can to prevent the escalation of tension and its out of control.” He spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Boussakian, and made contacts with a number of leaders of the countries of the region and stressed the necessity of stopping the Israeli aggression.
For his part, Foreign Minister Vidan and the head of the intelligence agency held talks with their counterparts in several countries, and entrusted the dangers of the spread of war and possible measures to contain it, and stressed the seriousness of the situation and the need to deal with it seriously.
A direct threat
It is estimated that Türkiye considers that the continuous Israeli aggression, since the start of the attack on Gaza and then Syria, is also a direct threat to it. The centers of thought and research in the country, along with academics and political analysts, began highlighting the nature of the threat that Israel represented by Ankara.
In this context, the head of the Security Studies Department at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Studies (Sita), Murad Yishel Tash, said that Israel has turned into a source of direct threat to Turkey, due to the destabilization and aggressive behavior in the region, and that it harms the interests of Ankara and its national security, especially through the chaos and aggression that it exerts in Syria and other countries of the region.
He assured Al -Jazeera Net that in front of this reality, Turkey must take new positions, adding, “We are making remarkable progress in defense industries, but we need revolutionary transformations in the field of air defense systems.”
In response to a question by Al -Jazeera Net about Turkey’s concerns about the direct threat and the measures taken in this regard, Chiclik said that “what is happening is close to our borders. When Israel attacks Syria or Iran, it is natural that we would make a comprehensive security and military evaluation and take the necessary measures.”
He stressed that “the security institutions are doing this actually. The fire is burning throughout the region, and the main cause is Israel.”
Defense doctrine
For his part, a high -ranking Turkish official in the security apparatus – preferred not to disclose his identity – said that the Israeli attack on Iran has increased the risk of threats, stressing that Ankara is seriously considering making deep changes in its defensive and security faith.
He added that “the whole world is closely following Türkiye’s successes in the field of defense industries. We are doing everything we can to protect the security of our country with our own capabilities, without relying on any external party.” He believed that after the Israeli strikes against Iran, it became necessary to accelerate the pace of work on several files to strengthen air defense systems, and to support the army’s capabilities more.
The same source said that Israel “is behaving without any logic or controls, so we are now working to accelerate our security and defensive structure in the face of these escalating threats.”
Sources confirm to Al -Jazeera Net that Iran – a short time before the attack – has started attempts to converge with Türkiye through multiple channels.
In this context, the official in the security apparatus, who is informed of the details of this file, said in exclusive statements to Al -Jazeera Net, that “Turkey clearly explained to all its neighbors the seriousness of the status quo in the region, Iran was targeted, and it had to correct its relations with Ankara.”
He added that the Iranians initiated “contact us, and we explained from the first moment that our primary condition is to cut their ties to the organization of the PKK, which constitutes a direct threat to Turkey’s security,” expressing his hope that recent developments will result in more rapprochement between the two countries.