The United States is asking Turkey and other allies with ties to Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the US ambassador to Turkey said.
Ambassador Jeff Flake made the comments as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies following the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials.
Ismail Haniya, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated on July 31 in the Iranian capital Tehran, prompting threats from Iran to retaliate against Israel, which is fighting in Gaza against the Islamist Palestinian group. Iran blamed Israel for the murder. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
“We’re asking all of our allies who have any dealings with Iran to get them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey,” Flake told a roundtable of reporters in Istanbul as his accreditation to Turkey comes to an end.
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“They are doing everything they can to ensure that this does not escalate,” he said of Washington’s Turkish interlocutors, adding that they “seem more convinced than we are that there will be no escalation.”
U.S.-Turkish relations have been strained in recent years by the U.S.’s alliance with the Syrian Kurds, whom Turkey considers terrorists, and Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 anti-missile systems, which prompted U.S. sanctions. and Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 jet program.
However, Flake said he believes US-Turkish relations are now “in a better place than they have been in quite some time.”
He noted the “useful role” Turkey played in the largest post-Cold War prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, which took place in early August.
“They were not involved on the negotiating side, but on the logistics side they played an important role,” he said.
In an interview with Reuters in June, Flake said Turkey remains firmly anchored in the West and its partnership with the United States has never been stronger.
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But Flake said on Monday that the situation in Gaza was “very difficult”, with President Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric making it difficult for Turkey to play a role as an interlocutor. He said the distance between Ankara and Washington over Gaza had narrowed after Washington began “actively calling” for a ceasefire, but friction remained.
Flake also said the United States remains concerned about military-related material going from Turkey to Russia, and called on Ankara to increase cooperation to prevent exports.
“It remains a concern for us and we raise it frequently and consistently,” he said. “When we talk to our contacts here, what we emphasize is that our goal is to ensure that Russia does not have the ability to wage war.”
“We still see important species coming through Turkey,” he said. “So we seek better cooperation here and in many ways we achieve it. I know Russia is complaining, which is a good sign.”
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