Politics
Türkiye says ready to help de-escalate Iran-Israel conflict
Türkiye is ready to play a facilitating role to end the Iran-Israel conflict as soon as possible and to return to nuclear negotiations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said Monday.
Erdoğan and Pezeshkian discussed the conflict between Iran and Israel, as well as regional and global issues in their second phone call since the outbreak of the conflict, according to the directorate.
The Turkish leader, who stepped up diplomatic calls on the conflict over the weekend, has slammed Israel’s “banditry” and said Israel was seeking to drag the world into “disaster” after a wave of deadly strikes on Iran.
Erdoğan also emphasized the importance Ankara places on preserving peace and stability in the region. Türkiye has previously hosted peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
In a separate phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan reiterated that Israel “threatens regional security.”
“The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk and the lawless attitude of the (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu government poses a clear threat to the international system and that the region cannot tolerate a new war,” Erdoğan told Putin.
The two leaders condemned Israel’s “act of force” against Iran and called for an “immediate” end to the conflict, saying room must be made for diplomacy as soon as possible.
Erdoğan also repeated his view that the only solution to the crisis was a return to nuclear talks.
“The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The statement said the two sides agreed to remain in close cooperation.
Regional tension has escalated since Friday after Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said that at least 24 people were killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since Friday.
Iran, for its part, said that at least 224 people were killed and over 1,000 others wounded in the Israeli assault.
Now in its fourth day, the conflict has drawn international calls for restraint and de-escalation.
Russia is ready to act as a mediator in the conflict and Moscow’s previous proposal to store Iranian uranium in Russia remains on the table, the Kremlin said separately on Monday.
Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly advancing uranium enrichment program has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon.
Russia said it remained ready to mediate if needed but noted the “root causes” of the conflict needed to be eliminated.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Putin could help.
Earlier Sunday, Trump claimed that Iran and Israel will have peace “soon,” in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he also revealed “many calls and meetings” were taking place to resolve the crisis, without elaborating.
Speaking with Trump also on Sunday, Erdoğan urged the U.S. president to take “urgent action” to prevent the Iran-Israel conflict from enflaming the entire region.
He also lauded Trump’s statement on a likely solution to the crisis and reiterated Ankara’s willingness to facilitate a solution to the nuclear dispute that led to the conflict.
Türkiye adheres to its stance that Israel is a primary threat to the region, especially in light of its expansionist policies.
Ankara advocates that Israel was emboldened by the inaction of the international community and spread its conflict with the Palestinians to a wider region. This stance was evident in Erdoğan’s talks over the weekend, as well.
In conversations with Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders, the Turkish president said Israel’s attacks on Iran jeopardize regional security in a region that cannot endure another war, adding that the Netanyahu government poses a threat to global stability and security.
The cycle of violence caused by Israel threatens the region, Erdoğan told world leaders, emphasizing that negotiations are the only solution to the nuclear dispute between Iran and the U.S.
Erdoğan has also stressed that Israel’s attacks on Iran must never be allowed to overshadow the genocide in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 55,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023 and created risks of famine.
Turkish authorities on Monday arrested two individuals who were detained previously on allegations of working for the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoğlu, who had been under surveillance for some time and were captured in a joint operation by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Istanbul Police Department, completed their procedures before a criminal court of peace at the Istanbul Courthouse.
The court ruled that the suspects be arrested on charges of “obtaining information that must remain confidential for the security or political interests of the state for purposes of political or military espionage. “It had been determined that company owner Derya, who had been under MIT surveillance for some time, and his employee Kerimoglu were transferring information to Mossad. Authorities found that Derya expanded his commercial activities toward Middle Eastern countries through Kerimoglu, developed social and commercial ties with Palestinians opposed to Israel’s policies in the region, and transmitted the information they gathered to the Israeli service.
It was understood that Derya, who has maintained ties with Israeli intelligence since 2013, held third-country meetings in various European countries with numerous operatives using the code names “Luis, Jesus/Jose, Dr. Roberto/Ricardo, Dan/Dennis, Mark, Elly/Emmy, and Michael.”
Investigators determined that Derya communicated with the Israeli service through an encrypted system and, following Mossad operatives’ instructions, purchased SIM cards as well as internet modems and router devices from Türkiye and other countries, sending photos of labels containing passwords, serial numbers, production details and MAC addresses to his contacts. It was also established that during Derya’s most recent meeting with Mossad officials in January, they discussed setting up a bank account for a front company, designing a website, opening social media accounts, and researching potential partner firms.
Derya was tasked with establishing a front company abroad to infiltrate international supply chains. According to the alleged plan, the company would coordinate procurement and shipment of products from countries designated by Mossad to final destinations identified by Israeli intelligence, working with three legitimate companies operating in Asia at different stages of the logistics process. Following the completion of the investigation, Derya and Kerimoğlu were detained in Istanbul on Feb. 6 as part of the “MONITUM Operation” conducted jointly by MIT, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Istanbul Police Department’s Counterterrorism Branch.
Turkish intelligence, in recent years, has uncovered several spy networks operated by independent groups, terrorist groups like Daesh, or foreign intelligence agencies in Türkiye.
According to Turkish security sources, Mossad often uses online communication applications to recruit operatives to spy on Palestinians and other foreign nationals living in Türkiye.
Turkish authorities have detained eight suspects as part of an investigation into what prosecutors described as the “current financial structure” of the Gülenist terror group (FETÖ), the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said the suspects were detained following a joint operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Ankara Police Department’s counterterrorism units. The investigation also covers FETO’s alleged clandestine network within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), known as the group’s secretive military (“mahrem”) structure.
Authorities said the suspects were identified through technical and physical surveillance and the examination of digital materials.
Two of the eight detainees had previously been dismissed from public service, while all were found to have continued alleged organizational activities despite earlier prosecutions for membership in the group, prosecutors said.
During searches of homes and locations allegedly used for organizational activities, security forces seized financial assets and digital equipment, including promissory notes valued at TL 2.5 million ($57,298.45), as well as cash in Turkish lira, U.S. dollars and euros, gold bars, and coins, authorities said.
Police also seized mobile phones, laptops, storage devices, SIM cards and other electronic materials.
One of the suspects has been formally arrested by a criminal court of peace, while judicial procedures for the remaining seven were continuing, the prosecutor’s office said.
Separately, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said nationwide operations against FETÖ had intensified in recent weeks. In a post on the social media platform NSosyal, Yerlikaya said gendarmerie units conducted operations in 29 provinces over the past two weeks, detaining 63 suspects.
According to Yerlikaya, those detained were accused of maintaining contact with senior members of the terrorist group through pay phones, providing financial support to groups linked to FETÖ, spreading propaganda on social media and attempting to flee abroad.
Of the 63 suspects, 41 have been arrested and four placed under judicial supervision, while legal proceedings for the others are ongoing, he said.
“Traps set against the national will are being dismantled one by one,” Yerlikaya said, praising security personnel involved in the operations.
Meanwhile, police in the northwestern province of Çanakkale arrested a fugitive convicted in a FETÖ-related case. The suspect, who had been sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison, was taken into custody during routine security checks and transferred to a high-security prison, authorities said.
FETÖ has been facing increased scrutiny following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. Tens of thousands of people were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the attempt under a state of emergency.
Last year, more than 1,600 FETÖ suspects were arrested, while 1,524 other suspects were released under judicial control, according to figures from the Interior Ministry as of December 2025.
Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant, built by Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, is a strategic infrastructure project that strengthens the country’s energy security, economic resilience and diplomatic leverage, a political science expert said.
Ismail Cingöz said the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant should be evaluated beyond short-term political debates and narrow financial calculations.
“Having a nuclear power plant does not simply mean producing electricity,” Cingöz said. “It creates strategic capacity that gives countries diplomatic weight in the international system.”
He said nuclear energy has moved to the center of global energy policy as countries seek to ensure energy security, stabilize prices and reduce carbon emissions.
“Major economies such as the United States, France, China and South Korea have returned nuclear power to the core of their energy strategies,” Cingöz said, adding that Akkuyu shows Türkiye has aligned with this global trend.
Cingöz said one of Akkuyu’s key contributions will be uninterrupted baseload power. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to supply about 10% of Türkiye’s electricity demand, replacing 35 billion to 40 billion kilowatt-hours of energy currently generated from imported natural gas and coal each year.
“This is not a temporary saving but a structural shift in Türkiye’s energy trade balance,” he said.
Addressing criticism of the project’s power purchase guarantees, Cingöz said such mechanisms are standard in nuclear financing worldwide and are limited in scope and duration.
“Nuclear projects cannot be assessed with simple profit calculations,” he said. “Their value lies in import substitution, price stability, supply security and long-term strategic benefits.”
Cingöz also said Akkuyu is among the largest single foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Türkiye, financed under a build-own-operate model without burdening the public budget.
Built under International Atomic Energy Agency standards, the plant will operate within one of the world’s strictest nuclear safety frameworks, he added.
“Nuclear power strengthens a country’s diplomatic position by demonstrating long-term planning and institutional capacity,” Cingöz said. “Akkuyu is more than an energy project.”
A National Intelligence Academy (MIA) official said Tuesday that recent positive rhetoric surrounding talks between Iran and the U.S. should be viewed with caution, warning that the underlying tensions between the two countries remain unresolved and could still escalate.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) reporters on the sidelines of a program titled “Türkiye-Africa Strategic Dialogue,” held in Ankara, Hakkı Uygur addressed questions about rising regional tensions and the status of Iran-U.S. negotiations.
Uygur said it was premature to suggest that long-running disputes between Washington and Tehran had eased, despite both sides describing recent negotiations as constructive.
“I think these talks should be interpreted as attempts by both sides to buy time and play to their domestic audiences,” Uygur said. “It is far too early to say the problems have been resolved.”
He noted that similar diplomatic engagements in the past had failed to prevent conflict. Uygur recalled that earlier rounds of talks between Iran and the U.S. were held in Oman, followed by what he described as the outbreak of a 12-day conflict in June 2025 after the fifth round of negotiations.
“The two sides can talk on the one hand and still clash on the other,” Uygur said.
“While both claim the talks were positive, they continue to issue military threats and display naval power. That alone shows the situation has not stabilized.”
Uygur said military movements in the region, including U.S. naval deployments, increased coordination between U.S. and Israeli military officials, and the presence of British F-35 fighter jets in Cyprus, should be closely monitored. He added that such developments suggest both sides remain on high alert.
Turning to the substance of the negotiations, Uygur said Iran’s room for concessions is limited, while demands from U.S. President Donald Trump are extensive. He said key questions remain unanswered, including what Iran would receive in return for halting uranium enrichment and how quickly sanctions could realistically be lifted.
Uygur referenced the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, noting that sanctions relief was slow and incomplete even after Iran complied with the agreement. He added that Iran remains skeptical that meaningful economic benefits would follow any new concessions, particularly after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal during his previous term.
“Even if Iran does everything that is asked, it knows the gains may be limited,” Uygur said. “That explains why Tehran is proceeding cautiously.”
Uygur said recent comments by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan advocating a step-by-step approach appear to have influenced the process, with the latest talks in Oman reportedly focused solely on the nuclear issue rather than broader regional disputes.
However, Uygur warned that even a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran could face obstacles from Israel. He said Israel has historically opposed any deal it views as legitimizing Iran’s regional influence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to raise Iran as a key issue during an upcoming visit to Washington, Uygur said, adding that Israel could still take unilateral action even if the U.S. and Iran claim progress.
“Even if Iran and the United States say they have reached an understanding, Israel could take the initiative, as we have seen before,” Uygur said.
He concluded that while diplomacy continues, the risk of renewed confrontation remains high and the broader dispute is far from settled.
The U.N. secretary-general will meet with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhürman in New York on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the global body said Monday.
“The meeting will be an opportunity to meet the new leader of the Turkish Cypriot community for the first time and to discuss the Cyprus issue,” Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.
Erhürman won the TRNC presidential election last October.
Dujarric also said that Guterres will also speak to Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek Cypriot Administration leader, “in due course.”
The U.N. spokesperson’s office also told Anadolu Agency (AA) in a statement that Maria Angela Holguin, the U.N. Cyprus envoy, held a meeting with the leaders of the TRNC and the Greek Cypriots in the island’s U.N.-controlled buffer zone.
“She continues to work with both leaders, including toward progress on the agreed trust-building initiatives, particularly the opening of additional crossing points, as soon as possible,” the statement added.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
A U.S. immigration judge on Monday terminated removal proceedings against Turkish graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, ending the government’s effort to deport her nearly a year after her arrest by immigration agents, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.
Özturk, a Tufts University Ph.D. student in child development, was detained by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025 in Somerville, Massachusetts, after co-authoring a pro-Palestinian opinion piece in a student newspaper. Her lawyers said the judge found that the Department of Homeland Security lacked legal grounds to remove her from the U.S.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” Öztürk said in a statement released by the ACLU.
She added that while the harm she endured could not be undone, the ruling showed “some justice can prevail after all.”
The Trump administration had argued that Öztürk was removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, claiming her activities posed adverse foreign policy consequences and amounted to support for the Palestinian group Hamas. Öztürk’s lawyers have said the allegations were retaliatory and tied solely to her protected speech.
Following her arrest, Öztürk was transferred across multiple states – from Massachusetts to Vermont and later Louisiana – without prior notice to her attorneys, according to court filings. A federal judge in Vermont ordered her release on bail six weeks later.
Öztürk’s legal team challenged her detention as unconstitutional, arguing that it violated her First and Fifth Amendment rights.
In December, a federal judge ruled that the government had wrongfully terminated her student visa record, allowing her to resume her academic program. The government has appealed that ruling, though her visa record remains reinstated.
“The Trump administration has weaponized our immigration system to target valued members of our communities, including scholars like Rümeysa,” said Mahsa Khanbabai, one of Öztürk’s attorneys.
She said the case illustrated how immigration laws were used to silence advocacy related to Palestinian rights.
Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said the ruling highlighted the importance of judicial oversight in immigration cases.
“Without federal court jurisdiction, the government could punitively and unlawfully detain any noncitizen for months based solely on their speech,” Rossman said.
Öztürk’s separate civil lawsuit challenging her detention remains pending in the federal appeals court. She is among several international students targeted in the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine campus activists, including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
The Trump administration has alleged that Öztürk, Khalil and Mahdawi engaged in activities supporting Hamas but has not presented evidence to substantiate the claims.
An unsealed State Department memo revealed last month that U.S. officials had no evidence against Öztürk beyond the article she co-authored for a student magazine, even as officials moved to revoke her student visa.
The internal memo, dated March 21, 2025, and unsealed by a federal judge, states that the Department of Homeland Security referred Öztürk for visa revocation after she co-authored an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the school’s response to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Senator Ed Markey welcomed the judge’s decision while criticizing the case as unjustified from the outset.
“I’m grateful a judge has terminated removal proceedings against Rümeysa Öztürk. But let’s be clear: she never should have faced removal in the first place.
“Rümeysa is an example to us all of what it means to speak truth to power. Her courage and grace are inspiring,” Markey said on the U.S. social media company X’s platform.
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