Turkey urges US, Iran to avoid escalating tension in region after killing of Iranian commander

ANKARA

Turkey expressed concern about escalating U.S.-Iranian tension and called on all the parties to avoid unilateral steps that would jeopardize the stability in the region after the U.S. killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

“We are deeply concerned about the escalating U.S.-Iranian tension in the region. In particular, we strongly emphasize the warning that turning Iraq into a conflict zone will harm both the peace and stability of both Iraq and our region,” said the foreign ministry said in a written statement.

“In this context, it is obvious that the U.S. air operation in Baghdad, which was held today in the morning targeting the convoy of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Jerusalem Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Army, and his entourage, will increase the distrust and instability in the region,” said the ministry.

The U.S. confirmed that it carried out a strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Jan. 3.

The strike near Baghdad International Airport killed Soleimani, one of the most powerful commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, vice president of the Hashd al-Shaabi group, or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

The ministry stressed that such escalating steps that threaten stability in the region will increase the spiral of violence, and all parties will suffer from this situation.

“Turkey always objects foreign intervention in the region, the assassinations and sectarian conflict,” said the statement.

For this reason, Turkey invited all parties to act in common sense and sobriety, to avoid unilateral steps that would jeopardize the peace and stability of the region and to prioritize diplomacy.