ANKARA, June 26 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday hailed United States (US) President Donald Trump’s efforts in achieving a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
"I told Trump that, referring to his efforts in the Israel-Iran ceasefire, the same level of effort is expected to help end the conflicts in Gaza as well as in the Russia-Ukraine war," Erdogan told reporters aboard his return flight from the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz would cause major problems. We believe Iran would not take such a step,” the Turkish president said.
Erdogan underlined that the latest conflict between Iran and Israel has once again highlighted how important energy supply security is.
“As Türkiye, we are carrying out intensive efforts to increase our own energy resources,” Erdogan said.
“At the same time, we are continuing our oil and natural gas exploration activities with seriousness and determination,” he said.
“We do not consider it even remotely possible that Iran would cut off our natural gas supply,” Erdogan said, adding: “At the moment, our natural gas from Iran is flowing, and we are not facing any issues.”
Israel launched air strikes on several sites across Iran on June 13, including military and nuclear facilities, alleging that Tehran was on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb, a claim vehemently denied by Iran.
While Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, the US joined the conflict by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
After 12 days of aerial combat between the two regional arch-foes, Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end their conflict.
“We had a productive meeting with my friend Trump and discussed bilateral ties, NATO partnership, as well as regional and global issues,” the Turkish president said.
“We conveyed our solution-oriented approach on regional issues to Trump and expect his support in this regard," said Erdogan, adding: “Trump responded positively to our proposals.”
-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
