In his first detailed comments on the killing of Iran’s most celebrated commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike on Jan. 3, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the move, saying it aggravated regional tensions and that his death had come as “a shock.” The Turkish leader’s messages during an hour-and-a-half-long interview aired Sunday on the government-friendly CNN Turk were cautiously worded but left no doubt that he doesn’t want his country embroiled in a conflict between the United States and Iran.

Erdogan said, “Soleimani is an individual who proved himself and one who was accorded extraordinary value by [Iran’s Supreme Leader] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I believe that the killing of a state’s commander cannot go unanswered. The choice that [the United States] made was ill advised and has increased tensions.”

Today, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik reaffirmed Turkish disapproval, saying, “With this attack a phase of greater violence has begun. Despite everything, Iran was talking to the European Union to [salvage] the nuclear agreement.”

Iran announced on Sunday that it that it will no longer be bound by the uranium-enrichment limits under the terms of the nuclear deal from which the Donald Trump administration withdrew in 2017. Many believe the move triggered the spiral of hostility that resulted in Soleimani’s assassination.