Turkish opposition leader and former prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu urged the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday to immediately declare Turkey’s territory and its military facilities off-limits for any attacks on Iran and to call for consultations under NATO’s Article 4 to press Washington for answers about the operation.
Davutoğlu, who leads the Future Party, made the call after the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on targets inside Iran, an escalation that has rattled the region and sent civilians in Iran into panic, according to international reports.
In a statement posted on social media, Davutoğlu argued that the joint strikes showed the crisis was not primarily about Iran’s nuclear program and said Ankara should act to keep Turkey from being pulled into a wider conflict. He called for an explicit public pledge that Turkish soil “cannot be used” in attacks on Iran and demanded tighter Turkish oversight of Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, including transferring the base’s full management to the Turkish Armed Forces if Turkey receives a request for its use in strikes or if there is any unauthorized use.
He also urged the government to shut down the Kürecik radar site in eastern Turkey and to request an urgent NATO consultation under Article 4, the alliance mechanism that allows any member to demand talks when it believes its security is threatened.
Turkey hosts key NATO and US-linked facilities that have long drawn scrutiny in regional crises. The Kürecik site in Malatya province is an early warning radar tied to NATO’s missile defense architecture, a system that has been criticized in Turkey as increasing Ankara’s exposure in a confrontation involving Iran.
Davutoğlu also urged what he described as immediate “phone diplomacy” with US President Donald Trump and leaders of permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, along with an effort to revive talks in the “P5+1” format that previously handled negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
The strikes came as diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program had been underway, with talks reported in Geneva before the operation.
Turkey is a member of NATO but has also maintained trade and energy ties with Iran.