ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday that the international community would not tolerate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Anatolia news agency reported from Baku.
Erdogan met Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of a regional gathering in the Azerbaijani capital.
Asked what messages he conveyed to the hardline Iranian leader, Erdogan said: "Turkey believes that no one can object to nuclear technology for peaceful, humanitarian aims.
"But of course, no country in the world will approve the proliferation of nuclear weapons."
Asked Ahmadinejad's reply, Erdogan said: "They also have the same understanding."
Turkish officials told Anatolia that Ahmadinejad insisted at the meeting that Tehran's nuclear program was peaceful, while Erdogan urged more transparency.
Erdogan reiterated that the mounting dispute between Iran and the West should be resolved through diplomatic means, Anatolia said.
05/05/2006 14:05 GMT