Iran's air strike against Israel has deepened political tensions in the Middle East. Türkiye is trying to clarify its role in this conflict both as a NATO country and as a Middle Eastern country.

What will be Ankara's next step in this complicated situation?

Turkish political scientist Ismail Cingöz, who made a statement to Ednews about the issue, said that Türkiye managed to maintain its neutral position despite all the conflicts.

"Türkiye evaluated the attack of Israel on the Iranian consulate on April 1 as an illegal attack at the international level and called on both sides not to show aggression. Warning both Israel and Iran to prevent the conflict from spreading to the region, Turkey said that the states should use all possible options to prevent the war from expanding to the region.

Turkey also called on Western countries that support Israel to warn Israel so that the conflict does not spread further in the region. In addition, Turkey demanded that Israel stop the inhumane genocide of Gaza City.

Althoughç Türkeye is a NATO country, Ankara can take different steps when its domestic and foreign policies are not in line with NATO's. Turkey does not shy about implementing its independent policy. Turkey showed the best example of this in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ankara has created close relations with both Ukraine and Russia by pursuing a policy outside of NATO policy. In the Israel-Iran conflict, Turkey took its position independently of NATO and other alliances. Turkey is ready to play the role of a mediator between these two countries in the current situation."

The political scientist believes that, many forces want to include Turkey and Azerbaijan in conflicts in the Middle East region:

"Turkey also stated that it is ready to act as a third party in the Israeli-Palestinian war. In addition, Turkey is trying to prevent these conflicts from spreading to Turkey and Azerbaijan. At the time when the Iranian embassy was shot down by Israel, some Iranian resources proposed to shoot down the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan. Even the issue of Turkey becoming a target has also been brought up. It is clear that there are great powers interested in involving Turkey and Azerbaijan in this conflict. However, I think that Turkey is strong enough to avoid all global conflicts and protect its position."

Farid