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"Turkey is proving itself to be a key player in the Middle East after years of being left out in the cold, as it spent last week acting as a referee to try and resolve a diplomatic dispute.
Diplomats from around six major world powers including the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany met in Istanbul to hold talks about Iran's nuclear program. They were there to try and break a year-long stalemate as to whether Tehran should suspend the production of nuclear fuel as the fear is it can be used to make weapons.
While the US already said they did not expect any big breakthroughs, this second round of negotiations is seen as significant as talks have only recently resumed after a 14 month hiatus.
Unfortunately the US was proved correct with the two day talks ending in a stalemate. Istanbul is seen by Iran as a much better place to negotiate as the atmosphere here is familiar. Iran has good relations with Turkey and has recently strengthened its ties with the country, while the staging of talks in Istanbul is hugely prestigious for the country.
Some negotiators in the talks had previously blocked Iran's attempts to hold talks in Istanbul as they were worried about Turkey's neutrality, with suspicions being increased by the fact that Turkey voted against a fourth round of punitive measures against Iran as these sanctions could indirectly have harmed Turkey.
However these thoughts were put to one side and Turkey had a neutral role to play in the talks, with many people realising that this country is best kept as an ally as its power increases.
