US envoy says Iran-Israel war opens ‘new road’ for Mideast

ISTANBUL: The Iran-Israel war has opened the way to a “new road” for the Middle East in which Turkiye will have a key role to play, Washington’s envoy to Turkiye 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.

Read more: Iran demands UN recognise Israel, US ‘responsibility’ for war

Israel, he said, was “in the process of being redefined” and its regional neighbours needed to reach agreement with it.

‘HE DOESN’T HATE ISRAEL’

“(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 Turkiye” — a key backer of the Islamist-led rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad and now form the Damascus government — and Turkiye 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 Turkiye 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.”

US SANCTION TO END

Apart from Iran-Israel war and Middle East, Barrack said US sanctions on Turkey’s defence sector over its purchase of a Russian air defence system are likely to be ended by the year’s end.

He said Trump and Erdogan would instruct their top diplomats to “figure out the way and end it and Congress will support an intelligent solution”.

With both sides committed to drawing a line under the dispute, which has dragged on for five years, the issue could be resolved within six months, Barrack said.

“My belief is that by the year end, we have the possibility of having a solution, my belief is they’re going to solve the problem,” he said.

Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara in 2020 over its purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defence system under a 2017 law known as CAATSA, which aims to limit Russia’s military influence.

It also booted Turkiye out of its F-35 programme, with Washington saying the presence of the S-400 would allow the Russians to collect information on the stealth jet’s capabilities — a move that further soured ties between the NATO allies.

“All these things that have been discussed for five years, F-35s, F-16s, S400s, sanctions, tariffs… Enough. We have to put that aside, and Congress is willing to take a fresh look at it,” Barrack said.

WANTS MODERNISE AIR FORCE

In March, Erdogan spoke to Trump about the need to finalise a deal to let Turkey buy US F-16 fighter planes and be readmitted to the development programme for F-35 warplanes.

And last month, he said he saw an end in sight to the sanctions, saying Turkiye had seen them eased under Trump.

On Tuesday, Erdogan met Trump on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague and called for increased defence industry cooperation with Washington, which he said could significantly boost trade between them.

“Advancing cooperation in the defence industry would facilitate achieving the goal of a $100 billion trade volume,” he said.

Turkiye, which wants to modernise its air force, has also been seeking to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons built by a four-nation consortium of Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy.