Turkey says ready to help calm Saudi Arabia-Iran tensions

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday said Turkey was ready to do everything it could to help calm flaring tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after Ankara expressed alarm over the consequences of the dispute between two key Muslim powers for the region.

“We expect all countries in the region to show common sense and take steps aimed at easing the tensions in the region,” Davutoglu told his ruling party in a speech in Ankara.

“As Turkey, we are ready to make any effort to solve the problems between the two countries,” he said, without specifying what this could entail. The crisis began at the weekend when Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric and activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as well as 46 other convicts, prompting a furious reaction from Tehran. Iranian protesters then ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Riyadh, Bahrain and Sudan severed relations with Tehran while Kuwait recalled its ambassador. 

Davutoglu said Turkey strongly condemned attacks against embassies.