Turkey against nuclear weapons in the region
Washington, 6 June (IranVNC) – Turkey is against the presence of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and approves the United Nations Security Council’s new incentives package for Iran, visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, during a joint conference with his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, at the State Department yesterday.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, June 06, 2008
15:05GMT—11:05AM/EST
TURKEY – U.S. – NUCLEAR – IRAN
Washington, 6 June (IranVNC) – Turkey is against the presence of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and approves the United Nations Security Council’s new incentives package for Iran, visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, during a joint conference with his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, at the State Department yesterday.
Replying to a question on Turkey’s role in pressuring Iran to end its disputed nuclear program, Babacan said: “We are against nuclear weapons in our region. We do support the recent initiative of the six countries [5+1], including the United States, to come up with a new offer package to Iran…and we believe that political dialogue could help to resolve the issue about nuclear program of Iran.”
Turkey, a member state of the U.N., has an obligation to enforce the terms of the resolutions imposed by the Security Council on Iran and to insist that the latter also carries out those resolutions, Rice said on the same issue.
The U.S. accuses Iran of using its nuclear technology to make an atomic bomb, but the Islamic Republic insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. A new incentives package was recently offered to the country, and there are now three Security Council resolutions that address what Iran and all member states must do.
“Civil nuclear cooperation without the fuel cycle risks are available to the Iranians,” Rice said, adding that the U.S. will continue its confrontation with Iran as long as it posed a threat to U.S. forces and interests.
Asked to comment on Turkey’s operations against the Kurdish rebel group, Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK], in northern Iraq, Babacan said that Turkey is conducting military operations against PKK “in close cooperation with the United States armed forces,” based in Iraq.
“And also, from time to time, when the operations are close to the Iranian border, then there is communication between the Iranian authorities and our authorities as well,” Babacan added.
Rice reiterated that PKK is the enemy of Iraq, the U.S., and Turkey and that her country is working closely with Turkey to prevent the group from using the Iraqi territory to wage attacks on Turkey.
The U.S. is supporting the indirect peace talks that Turkey is mediating between Syria and Israel. Babacan said that the U.S. was one of the first countries to make public statements of support for the bilateral Israel and Syria dialogue.
“We are happy about the support,” he told a reporter at the conference.
Last month, Israel and Syria confirmed the resumption of their peace talks through Turkish mediators. The last round of Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations broke down in 2000, partly over disagreements on Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
Earlier this week, in an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] in Washington, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed hope for a change in regional dynamics that could be brought about by the Israeli-Syrian talks.
An agreement between the two sides could bring about a "drastic, strategic shift in the entire Middle East," and isolate Iran by separating Syria from "its allies in the axis of evil," the prime minister said.
Sources: Reuters , U.S. Department of State website
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