Iran-Israel war opens ‘new road' for Mideast: US envoy to Turkey
ISTANBUL: The Iran-Israel war has opened the way to a 'new road' for the Middle East in which Turkey will have a key role to play, Washington's envoy to Turkey said Sunday.
'What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: 'Time out. Let's create a new road' (and) Turkiye is key in that new road,' Ambassador Tom Barrack told the Anadolu state news agency.
'The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story,' he said, saying it was essential for decades-long enmities to be reframed.
Israel, he said, was 'in the process of being redefined' and its regional neighbours needed to reach agreement with it.
'(Syrian) President (Ahmed) al-Sharaa has indicated that he doesn't hate Israel and that he wants peace on that border. I think that will also happen with Lebanon. It's a necessity to have an agreement with Israel,' he said.
What is happening in Syria is 'in big part due to Turkey' -- a key backer of the Islamist-led rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad and now form the Damascus government -- and Turkey could play a central role in changing the regional narrative, he said.
US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan 'see that this is an opportunity at a really interesting point in both of their lives where they can change the dialogue,' he said.
'And dialogue in the Middle East takes strong leadership.'
Barrack also said he believed there would be a ceasefire soon in the deadly Gaza war which would also speed up a shift in regional thinking.
'We're going to see a ceasefire in Gaza in the near future, I think we have the right team on it,' he told Anadolu.
'Everybody is starting to move back towards the Abraham Accords, especially as the Gaza situation dissipates,' he said referring to the US-sponsored agreements struck by Israel to normalise ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
And he expressed confidence that Turkey and Israel -- whose relationship has been shattered by the Gaza war -- would resume their former ties.
'It can happen again, it's not a religious issue, it's a misunderstanding of territorial desires. So having a discussion, a dialogue.. will take place.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
BBC ‘regrets' not pulling Glastonbury stream after anti-Israel remarks
LONDON: British public broadcaster the BBC apologised Monday for not pulling a live stream of a punk-rap group's performance at the Glastonbury festival when they made anti-Israel remarks. 'With hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen,' the broadcaster said of Bob Vylan's show, in which the group led the crowds in chants of 'Death to the IDF', the initials of the Israeli military. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after there was 'no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech'. The BBC said that 'millions of people' watched its coverage of the festival 'but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive'. 'The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence,' it added. 'The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves.' Media watchdog Ofcom warned Monday that it was 'very concerned' and that the BBC had questions to answer. 'We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency,' it added. Controversy descended on this year's event before it even began over the inclusion of Irish rap trio Kneecap, one of whose members was recently charged under terror legislation. During their show on Saturday, one Kneecap member wore a T-shirt dedicated to the Palestine Action Group, which is about to be banned under UK terror laws. The chants about Israel's military were led by Bob Vylan's frontman Bobby Vylan, and were broadcast live on the BBC. Glastonbury's organisers said the the comments had 'very much crossed a line'. 'We are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,' the festival said in a statement. Avon and Somerset police said Saturday that video evidence would be assessed 'to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation'. The incident has caused a diplomatic headache for the UK, with the Israel embassy issuing a statement saying 'it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'. Kneecap, which has made headlines in recent months with its pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance, also led crowds in chanting abuse against Prime Minister Starmer. Starmer and other politicians had said the band should not perform after its member Liam O'Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence. He appeared in court this month accused of having displayed a Hezbollah flag while saying 'Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah' at a London concert last year. A video of the concert resurfaced and caused controversy. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Palestinian militants Hamas are banned in the UK, where it is an offence to express support for them.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
United Nations chief warns of 'decimated' aid budgets at development conference
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (left) and with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrive to give a joint press conference during the United Nations 4th International Conference on Financing and Development in Seville, on June 30, 2025. A UN conference is gathering in the city of Seville from June 30 to July 3. - Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP OVIEDO, Spain (Bernama-Anadolu): United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that foreign aid budgets have been "decimated,' saying this isn't a crisis of numbers but of "families going hungry, children unvaccinated, children dropping out of school,' at a major development conference in Seville. According to Anadolu Ajansi (AA), Guterres noted that meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals - a global agenda to end poverty, protect the planet and promote peace - requires about US$4 trillion a year. "But we are here in Seville to change course, to restore a message of fairness and justice for all,' Guterres added. The secretary-general was addressing the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development - the first such gathering in a decade. About 50 world leaders and 4,000 representatives from business, civil society and financial institutions are attending the four-day event. Earlier this month, the United States (US) announced it would not attend. Washington, which recently cut funding to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - historically one of the world's largest aid agencies - has also formally rejected the Sustainable Development Goals. "For decades, the mission of sustainable development has united countries large and small. Together, we achieved progress,' Guterres said. "But today, development and international cooperation are facing massive headwinds. We are living in a world where trust is fraying and multilateralism is strained,' he said. - Bernama-Anadolu
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
Israel says it wants peace with Syria, Lebanon after fall of Assad and Hezbollah's decline
JERUSALEM, June 30 — Israel said today it is 'interested' in striking peace agreements with neighbouring Lebanon and Syria, a potentially historic shift in the region after decades of war and animosity. With Syria under a new leadership after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement weakened, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists his government wanted more normalisation agreements with Arab countries. 'Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalisation,' Saar said of the US-brokered deals that Israel signed in 2020 with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. 'We have an interest in adding countries — Syria and Lebanon, our neighbours — to the circle of peace and normalisation while safeguarding Israel's essential and security interests,' Saar told a news conference in Jerusalem alongside his Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger. Control of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has long been a source of tension between Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war. Saar insisted that the strategic plateau, which Israel seized in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the United Nations, 'will remain part of the State of Israel' under any future peace agreement. Following Assad's overthrow in December, Israel moved forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarised zone in the Golan, and has carried out hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria. In Lebanon, the clout of militant group Hezbollah has diminished after it had emerged bruised from a conflict with Israel last year, fuelled by Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel, however, has kept up strikes against Hezbollah despite a November ceasefire. There was no immediate response from Lebanese or Syrian officials to Saar's remarks. The latest push for peace comes after as 12-day war between Israel and Iran which ended last week, and as pressure rose on the Israeli government to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip, prompted by Hamas's deadly attack in October 2023. On Sunday, a senior US diplomat in the region said the Iran-Israel ceasefire could pave the way for a new Middle East. 'What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: 'Time out. Let's create a new road',' said Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey who is also a special envoy to Syria. 'The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story,' he told Turkey's Anadolu state news agency. — AFP
