Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said the current conditions do not support a serious effort to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran, but he believes Iranian officials are open to back-channel diplomacy. Fidan made the comments in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, as Ankara works to avoid being drawn further into a widening Middle East conflict.
In the interview, Fidan said Iran feels “betrayed” because it was attacked again while, he said, it was engaged in active U.S. nuclear talks for a second time. He added that, despite that grievance, he believes Iran is open to “any sensible back-channel diplomacy.”
Fidan said Turkey has a strategic priority of staying out of the conflict, even after missiles he said were believed to have come from Iran were intercepted over Turkey by NATO defenses. He said NATO defenses have been effective and described Ankara’s “primary objective” as avoiding involvement in the fighting. “I know that we are being provoked and we will be provoked, but this is our objective,” he said. “We want to stay out of this war.”
The foreign minister also addressed leadership developments in Iran, saying he did not know the severity of the wounds suffered by Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a strike earlier in the war, but that “what we know is that he is alive and functioning.” Fidan said the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28, created “a gap” in Iran’s power structure, which he said has been filled by the high command of the Revolutionary Guards.
Fidan said Turkey had tried to prevent war before the conflict by offering to host talks in Istanbul that would have brought the United States, Iran and other regional countries into discussions. He said Iran later opted for talks mediated by Oman, without regional actors and focused on the nuclear program, and that those talks ultimately failed. Fidan also said Iran refused to discuss its missile program and the proxy armed groups it backs in the region, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi militias that have since become involved in the regional war.
Turning to Turkey’s regional role amid tense relations with Israel, Fidan dismissed the idea that Turkey could be the next target, while saying Israel has incentives to maintain a regional enemy narrative. “As long as Netanyahu is there, (Israel) will always identify somebody as an enemy,” he said. “Because they need it to advance their own agenda. If not Turkey, they would name some other country in the region.” He also criticized Israel’s actions elsewhere, including in Syria, where he said both countries have strategic interests.
Fidan said Turkey has supported the interim government in Damascus led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, described as the former leader of an Islamist rebel group. He said Israel regards the government with suspicion and that, since it took power in December 2024, Israeli forces have seized control of territory in southern Syria and launched airstrikes on Syrian military facilities, wiping out much of the country’s arsenal. He said Israel’s conduct reflects a broader aim, saying, “They are after not security, they are after more land.” He added, “So as long as they don’t give up this idea, there will always be a war in the Middle East.”
On Gaza, Fidan said Turkey has sought a role in postwar planning and has joined U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which many other countries have boycotted. He said Turkey’s participation matters as an “opportunity” to stop the war, while also saying Turkey is not “under the illusion that the Board of Peace will address all the existing issues.” Fidan said Turkey has not received a request to contribute troops to an international stabilization force, which he attributed to Israeli opposition, but he said the Americans are “quietly trying to settle the issue with the Israelis to allow Turkey to participate.”
Fidan said Turkey’s priority in Gaza is the establishment of an administration committee made up of 15 politically independent Palestinian administrators. “We expect them to go into Gaza and start their work,” he said. “This has not started yet, so we need to start from somewhere.”