RIYADH, March 10 Turkey's role as a key player in Middle East and Arab affairs was set in cement when the Saudis honoured Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a prestigious prize for his “service to Islam”.

On a visit to Riyadh to receive the King Faisal Prize for Service to Islam — presented by King Abdullah late on Tuesday — Mr Erdogan minced no words in staking out his role.

“We are not spectators,” he told a group of top Saudi editors as he offered his views on conflicts involving Iran, Syria, the Palestinians, and even Yemen.

He said Turkey expected to be the intermediary for revived peace talks between Israel and Syria, and rejected US-pushed sanctions for Iran.

“I don't believe that any further sanctions will yield results,” said Mr Erdogan, whose country is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council that could vote on any new Iranian sanctions resolution by the year's end.

The Turkish premier also insisted that Hamas should be at the table for Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.—AFP