Turkey says making ‘intense’ efforts to end Mideast war

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday Turkey was making “intense” diplomatic efforts to end the conflict roiling the Middle East, sparked by the Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

“Attacks on Iran, and missile and kamikaze drone attacks [by Iran] on neighboring countries in the Gulf have fueled instability,” he said in a televised address.

“Through peace-oriented diplomacy, we are making intense efforts to resolve issues at the negotiating table,” he added.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had met Washington’s Syria envoy Tom Barrack, ministry sources said.

Bakanımız @HakanFidan, ABD’nin Ankara Büyükelçisi ve Suriye Özel Temsilcisi Tom Barrack’ı kabul etti. pic.twitter.com/PL20WIyl12

— T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_Disisleri) March 3, 2026

He also spoke with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper, to discuss “the current security environment in the region,” evaluating “in detail” the “diplomatic efforts that could be undertaken to end the hostilities and establish stability.”

He also discussed regional developments with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis and with Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

© Agence France-Presse