Turkey reiterates its support to dialogue on Iran issue

Turkey does not want countries in its region to acquire nuclear weapons, and the conflict over Iran's nuclear program should be solved through dialogue, Ali Babacan said at a joint press conference with his U.S. counterpart Condoleezza Rice in Washington.

 

"Turkey is against nuclear weapons in its region, and it supports the recent initiative of six countries covering a new package of proposals for Iran," Babacan said, adding Turkey supports the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iran.

 

Civilian nuclear cooperation is open to the Iranians, but the Iranians should know that the United States would continue to stand against them as long as they posed a threat against the United States forces and interests, Rice said for the same issue.

 

The U.S and Israel claim that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing an atomic bomb however Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Six powers, the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany have offered to submit a package of incentives to try coaxing Tehran into halting its uranium-enrichment program.

 

Babacan also said the United States was among the countries that backed Turkey's mediation for Israeli-Syrian rapprochement when it was first made public.

 

Rice said the U.S. was "very pleased" with Turkey's active policy in the Middle East including its efforts for the Israeli-Syrian rapprochement.

 

Israel and Syria announced last month a resumption of peace talks under Turkey's auspices after an eight-year break, as a result of a process that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said began in February 2007.Â

 

The last round of peace talks broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community. Those talks were hosted by the United States.

 

TURKEY-US COOPERATION ON PKK

 

Babacan also spoke about Turkey's operations against the terrorist organization PKK in north of Iraq. Babacan said that Turkey and the United States were in close cooperation in this fight.

 

"The United States is in close cooperation with Turkey in this fight" Babacan said. "Turkey sometimes stages operations across its border with Iran, and therefore it cooperates also with this country," Babacan added. 

 

Turkey, provided with intelligence on real time PKK movements in Iraq by the U.S., has stepped up military action against the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by much of the international community including the U.S. and the EU, since December, carrying out several air strikes and a week-long ground incursion into northern Iraq in February, where more than 2,000 PKK separatists take refuge.Â

 

Rice reiterated that the terrorist organization PKK was the common enemy of Turkey, the United States and Iraq, and said that the aim of the United States was to develop as much cooperation as possible to avoid the use of the Iraqi territories by the terrorist organization.

 

Rice said that Turkey was one of the neighbors of Iraq that extended support to the country, and emphasized that the common goal was a united and democratic Iraq that did not allow terrorists to use its territories.

 

The U.S. Secretary said that she would continue talks with Babacan during a conference on Afghanistan in Paris in the following week, and added that they were working very effectively.

 

The issues of  Kosovo, Cyprus, Afghanistan, the Middle Eastern peace process, and Iran were also discussed in the meeting, Rice added.

 

Babacan and Rice also debated Lebanon, Afghanistan, Turkey's reforms and EU membership bid, the Anatolian Agency reported.

 

Photo: AA