Turkey against all nuclear arms

Davutoğlu reiterated Turkey’s policy regarding the nuclear arms issue, saying Ankara is, and has been, against all nuclear weapons, especially in the Middle East. “No matter who possesses these deadly weapons, we are against it,” he said, adding, however, that every country has a right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as meeting legitimate energy needs.

“Countries should be able to produce enriched uranium for civilian purposes, but the process must be transparent and for peaceful goals,” Davutoğlu underlined. “We are not doing this to favor Iran as our approach to nuclear arms and nuclear energy issues is valid for other countries as well,” he added.

The Turkish foreign minister also balked at more sanctions targeting Iran, saying Turkey would be most adversely impacted in the case of a possible expansion of embargo and trade restrictions. “We suffered immensely when the UN Security Council imposed an embargo on Iraq during Saddam’s rule. The sanctions have a way of punishing those who were not intended to be punished in the first place. The Iraqi embargo affected not only Turkey but also the Iraqi people,” he said.

Davutoğlu emphasized that Turkey prefers negotiations to resolve outstanding issues between Iran and Western powers, noting that military means fall short of accomplishing goals and complicate matters worse. “Let’s give talks a chance and stick to negotiations,” he added.

 16 November 2009, Monday

ABDULLAH BOZKURT CORDOBA, todays zaman

Read Full Post »

Turkey offers help to overcome confidence crisis over Iran’s LEU

In a bid to resolve the standoff between Iran and world powers over low-enriched uranium (LEU), Turkey is prepared to offer escrow service, storing LEU in its own territory under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a top Turkish diplomat said on Saturday.

 

“We have a lot of political capital in Tehran, and we helped diffuse tension between Iran and world powers in the past,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told Today’s Zaman over the weekend while traveling to Spain to meet with his Spanish counterpart. He signaled that Turkey is willing to take up the IAEA suggestion that Iran send its LEU to Turkey, a friendly third country.

Recalling that Turkey had convinced Iran to send a delegation headed by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili to meet with European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, who presided as moderator of the 5+1 group (the UN Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany) delegation on Oct. 1, Davutoğlu said the dialogue process has reached this point because of Turkish efforts and that talks should continue.

He stated that he held telephone conversations with both IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Iranian officials last week to confirm Turkey’s willingness to act as a mediator on the issue in a major drive to prevent the disagreement from escalating into a full-blown crisis and help allay concerns on both sides.

The issue originated when Iran realized it was running out of special fuel to operate a Tehran research reactor that produces radioactive isotopes for cancer treatment. On Oct. 1, the meeting between Iran and world powers resulted in an agreement that Tehran would send the bulk of its LEU to Russia and France for further processing and conversion into fuel for the research reactor.

The agreement, however, was stalled over the timing and logistics of how Iran will part ways with its LEU, which some in Iran see as a vital strategic asset. The objections that were raised later by Iranian officials about sending the LEU to France or Russia prompted the UN to suggest that a friendly third country such as Turkey could act as escrow holder until the fuel arrives for the Tehran reactor.

From a technical standpoint, Turkey has the capability to store the LEU under watchdog agency supervision, Turkish officials said last week. “There is no problem from the side of Turkey with Iran storing its LEU in Turkey,” Energy Minister Taner Yıldız told reporters. The UN plan requires Tehran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) — around 70 percent of its stockpile — of LEU to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment, a move that would ease international concerns that the material could be processed for a bomb. After further enrichment in Russia, France would then convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor. Fuel rods cannot be further enriched into weapons-grade material.

Turkey, which has very close political and trade relations with Iran, has said in the past it is willing to mediate between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program. Turkish officials had comprehensive talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who were both in İstanbul to attend an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) economic summit last week.

source : todays zaman

Read Full Post »