Erdogan warns against Israeli 'sectarian designs' in region — calls for Iran war to end

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the AK party in parliament, blasting Israel and calling for the US-Israel war against Iran to end. 'We absolutely must not fall for the Zionist murder network's killing two birds with one stone game,' Erdogan said. He warned against 'bloody scenarios that are being attempted to be staged in our region, especially sectarian conflict,' in what appeared to be a reference to reported Israeli and US contacts with Iranian Kurdish rebel groups (PJAK and others) about a potential offensive against the Iranian state. Turkey, which has the world's largest Kurdish population, is firmly opposed to any moves that could lead to increased Kurdish autonomy in the region, which could inflame Turkey's own Kurdish minority and the PKK conflict. 'Whoever reaches out to harm Turkey will get burned,' Erdogan said. He called for the war to stop 'before it escalates and completely engulfs the region in flames,' adding that Turkey is 'speaking very carefully' and 'acting cautiously to protect Turkey from the fire surrounding it.' Notably, Erdogan did not criticize or even mention Iran despite Iran having fired two ballistic missiles at Turkish territory during the conflict. His omission of Iran's attacks on Turkey while focusing exclusively on Israeli actions reflects Erdogan's consistent political alignment against Israel and his reluctance to publicly condemn Iran — a country with which Turkey has complex economic and energy ties.