Erdogan war has caused 'geostrategic impasse'

ANKARA: Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the war in the Middle East had led to a "geostrategic impasse", during a telephone conversation with Nato chief Mark Rutte, his office said on Saturday. "President Erdogan said the process started by the intervention against Iran had led to a geostrategic impasse and that the international community had to redouble its efforts to bring an end to this war," said the statement.

Türkiye has attempted to mediate an end to the hostilities, notably through negotiations conducted with Pakistan and Egypt. Erdogan said his country was also continuing efforts "to reach a peaceful outcome" to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Istanbul Saturday for talks with Erdogan. A senior Ukrainian official said that the talks would not only be about drone interceptors but also about security cooperation in general. The Turkish presidency said on X that the talks would focus "efforts towards a ceasefire and a lasting solution."

Separately, a second Turkish-flagged ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Türkiye's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Saturday. Uraloglu said that on February 28 there were 15 ships belonging to Turkish shipowners waiting to go through the strategic strait. "Two of these 15 made the crossing," he told the private CNN Turk channel. "This is explained by our initiatives and also by the fact that they were using Iranian ports or carrying goods coming from or bound for Iran". "Four of them have not requested to leave. Two of them are power-generation vessels and are stationed on site. The other two are waiting for the situation to calm down," he added. — AFP