Turkey’s foreign minister warned on Saturday against any effort to trigger a civil war in Iran, saying such a scenario would deepen instability across the region and could force millions of people to flee.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made the remarks in İstanbul days after NATO intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran that was headed toward Turkish airspace, an incident that has sharpened Ankara’s concern over the fallout from the widening conflict.
Fidan said Turkey opposed any attempt to cause regime change in Iran by exploiting ethnic or religious divisions, calling such a move the most dangerous scenario.
He said he had raised the issue in a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday after reports suggested Washington could back Kurdish armed groups for operations inside Iran.
According to Fidan, Rubio denied any US role in such a plan and said Washington had no such intention.
Fidan nonetheless accused Israel of pursuing a regional strategy that uses Kurdish groups as proxies, and said Turkey was openly warning all parties against steps that could drag Iran into internal conflict.
The issue is sensitive for Ankara because Turkey has for decades fought the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, and fears that broader regional turmoil could revive cross-border militant activity.
Fidan said a collapse into internal war in Iran would not only bring more death and suffering to civilians there but also displace millions into neighboring countries and beyond.
He said prolonged turmoil in Iran, after years of conflict and uncertainty in Iraq and Syria, would serve no one’s interests and would send shock waves across the Middle East.
© Agence France-Presse