UPDATE - Türkiye advises Iran, Pakistan to restore calm after strikes on suspected militants

UPDATES WITH JORDAN FOREIGN MINISTER’S STATEMENTS

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye advises against further escalation and urges the restoration of calm, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday, after the two neighbors launched airstrikes against “terrorists” in each other’s territory.

"Unfortunately, we see that the war in Gaza has increased regional escalation," Hakan Fidan told a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi in Amman, the capital of Jordan. "We have been following the developments between Pakistan and Iran with concern over the last two days."

Fidan said he spoke to his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Jalil Abbas Jilani, respectively, "advised that the issue should not escalate further, and urged the restoration of calm."

Türkiye will continue to do whatever is necessary to reduce the tension between Pakistan and Iran, Fidan said, adding: "Both sides expressed that they do not desire the escalation of tension and that they have it under control."

Islamabad on Thursday said it launched precision strikes against separatist terrorists in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, two days after Tehran struck what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

Safadi, for his part, said his country is working with Türkiye to formulate an international position to end the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

"There is a unity in the Jordanian-Turkish position regarding halting the aggression against Gaza and Israel refuses to engage in any effort to stop it,” he added.

The top Jordanian diplomat warned that the Israeli onslaught in Gaza pushes the region into more conflicts.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 24,448 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,504 others injured, according to local health authorities.

According to the UN, around 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught, while all of them are food insecure. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.