ANKARA: Türkiye’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin warned on Sunday that the month-long Israel-U.S.-Iran war threatens to ignite a prolonged ethnic blood feud among Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Persians, escalating into a global crisis affecting billions.
Speaking at the STRATCOM Summit 2026 organized by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, Kalin said Ankara had mounted intensive efforts under President Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership to prevent the conflict before it erupted on Feb. 28. “We are in the middle of the Israel-U.S.-Iran war that started on Feb. 28 and has been going on for a month,” he told delegates.
“Unfortunately, this regional war started by Israel is rapidly becoming a global crisis and, in the words of our president, a war whose price is paid by 8 billion people,” Kalin said.
The head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) accused Israel of repeatedly sabotaging diplomatic initiatives to establish a negotiation framework. “Recent Israeli attacks have sabotaged dialogue channels, despite round-the-clock Turkish efforts,” he said.
Kalin warned that the danger extended beyond Iran’s nuclear program, pointing to the risk of engineered decades-long fratricidal wars among regional ethnic groups. He said Türkiye would resist sedition and refuse to fuel divisions. “The war lacks international legal basis, with Israel pursuing annexation in Lebanon, Syria and Palestinian areas,” he added.
While condemning Iran’s Gulf strikes as unacceptable, Kalin argued that international pressure must focus on Israel as the initiator to avert wider escalation. Ankara, he said, remains committed to preventing the conflict from spiraling into a generational blood feud across the Middle East.
