ISTANBUL, June  14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
on Saturday warned against a "devastating war" between Israel and Iran that 
could trigger a refugee crisis, in a series of calls to regional leaders, his 
office said.

 Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Israel was 
seeking "to drag the whole region into the fire", according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

 His conversations came as Israel and Iran escalated their deadly barrages 
of missiles and drones, raising fears of an intense war that could affect 
multiple countries around the Middle East.

 To Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Erdogan said: "Our 
region cannot tolerate another crisis, and a devastating war could create waves of irregular migration towards all the countries in the region."

 Turkey already hosts millions of Syrians, who fled their civil war, as well 
as Iranians seeking lives away from their country's authoritarian rulers. The 
influx has created political tensions in Turkey.

 Erdogan told Saudi Arabia's prince that Israel needed "to be stopped", 
calling it "the main threat to stability and security in the region", the 
statement from his presidency said.

 The issue of Iran's nuclear programme "can only be resolved through 
negotiations", he added.

"The fact that the international community has closed its eyes to the 
occupation and genocide in Palestine has led Israel to this level of flouting 
the law and its aggression," Erdogan was quoted as saying.

 Erdogan also spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President 
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

  Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that 
he also spoke with Erdogan, and the two agreed that "Israel's unprovoked 
aggression against Iran" was "a blatant violation of international law and a 
threat to regional peace".

 Israel on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, killing top army 
commanders, nuclear scientists and other senior officials, in a missile barrage that Tehran said claimed 78 lives.

 In response, Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel, killing three 
people and wounding more than 70 others.