Turkey’s Erdogan says Israel must not scupper US-Iran deal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Middle East peace efforts could not succeed without regional backing and that Israel must not be allowed to “dynamite” the US-Iran peace deal.

Speaking alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Istanbul, Erdogan said: “No solution that does not take strength from the will and contributions of regional countries can be lasting.”

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Turkey, a NATO member and Iran’s neighbor, has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to undermine the US-Iran deal mediated by Pakistan, and has condemned Israeli operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

“We are closely following the Israeli administration’s attempts to dynamite the (US-Iran) deal... The current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to drown our geography in the smell of gunpowder and blood again,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan also said Turkey aimed to deepen cooperation with Pakistan in energy, transport, critical minerals, information technology and defense, while pursuing a bilateral trade target of $5 billion.

Earlier on Saturday, officials from both countries attended a business forum in Istanbul. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkish firms wanted to contribute to projects in Pakistan and share Turkey’s energy-sector expertise as Pakistan undergoes a transformation of its electricity sector.

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