TURKISH PM AGANIST IRAN SANCTIONS
Erdogan, right, has accused Western powers of treating Iran unfairly over its nuclear stance
Recep Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has cautioned against further UN Security Council sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme during a visit to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
"I don't believe that any further sanctions will yield results," Erdogan told journalists, adding that earlier rounds of sanctions "have never yielded results."
Source: The Agencies
"I don't believe that any further sanctions will yield results," Erdogan told journalists, adding that earlier rounds of sanctions "have never yielded results."
- Turkey, which has good relations with its neighbour Iran, has offered to host an exchange of Iran's low-enriched uranium (LEU) with 20 per cent enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers to Tehran as part of a UN-drafted deal.
- Tehran and members of the UN Security Council are locked in a stalemate over the deal, which envisages shipping out Iran's LEU to France and Russia for further conversion into higher-grade uranium.
- Iran has said that its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes and denies that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
- But the US and other nations have been pressing the UN Security Council to impose a fourth set of sanctions against Iran on the issue.
- The UN Security Council has said it is considering the matter after Yukiya Amano, the chief of the the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said last month that he could not verify that all of Tehran's atomic activities were peaceful.
- At a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board in Vienna, the Austrian capital, in February, Amano said he could not "confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities".
- Amano also accused Iran of failing to co-operate with the IAEA and said he wanted Tehran to clarify issues about its nuclear programme.
- "We would like to have a discussion with Iran to clarify the outstanding issues and issues that have a possible military dimension," he said.
- In October, Erdogan accused Western nations of hypocrisy in criticising Iran's uranium enrichment programme while remaining silent on Israel, which is believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
TURKISH PM ERDOGAN TO SAY GOODBYE TO POLITICS
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared that he will step out of the political arena after the next term of the Turkish parliament.
Erdogan noted that everyone should know when to quit politics, Zaman newspaper reported on Thursday.
Pointing to his political party's regulations he added, "according to our [party's] statute one can be a member of the parliament for no more than three terms and I have one more term left and after that I have to retire. I cannot go beyond this, and I won't."
He also called for a greater political role for Turkish youth and said, "We have to open the way for our youngsters and establish an environment of competition. I place great value on the potential of our youth."
Erdogan's vow to quit politics came as a surprise to many analysts because Turkish party leaders usually make long term careers in politics and are not willing to forgo power.
Courtesy: Press TV
Erdogan noted that everyone should know when to quit politics, Zaman newspaper reported on Thursday.
Pointing to his political party's regulations he added, "according to our [party's] statute one can be a member of the parliament for no more than three terms and I have one more term left and after that I have to retire. I cannot go beyond this, and I won't."
He also called for a greater political role for Turkish youth and said, "We have to open the way for our youngsters and establish an environment of competition. I place great value on the potential of our youth."
Erdogan's vow to quit politics came as a surprise to many analysts because Turkish party leaders usually make long term careers in politics and are not willing to forgo power.
Courtesy: Press TV
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
