ANKARA - Turkey`s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Friday "Turkey supports holding dialog on Iran`s nuclear program."
Ali Babacan and his Iranian counterpart Manuchehr Motaki held a joint news conference following their tete-a-tete meeting in Ankara on Friday.
"We hope that the dialog process on Iran`s nuclear program would continue with success," Babacan said.
"We held consultations today with Motaki on Iranian nuclear program," Babacan said.
"The meeting that would be held in Geneva on Saturday in regard to Iran`s nuclear program carries high importance. We exchanged ideas with Motaki on nuclear talks," Babacan said.
"Turkey supports the idea of handling Iran`s nuclear program through dialog. Turkey supports the nuclear talks process and thus the meeting to be held on Saturday in Geneva," Babacan said.
"Iran`s nuclear program was among topics I discussed with my colleagues from Europe and the United States in the past 10 days," Babacan said.
"We are very clear on this matter of nuclear energy. While we are against the use of nuclear weapons in our region, we believe that every sovereign country has the natural right to utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Dialog and consultations are necessary to build confidence. We stress the importance of dialog in all of our meetings. We wish for the process to continue successfully," Babacan said.
"One of the topics we discussed with Ali Babacan today was Iran`s nuclear program," Motaki said.
"We are in constant consultations on this matter. Turkey always follows Iran`s nuclear activities. We thank Turkey for its constructive approach to Iran`s nuclear activities," Motaki said.
Asked if a proposal is made in Geneva on Saturday that the United Nations`s sanctions against Iran may be postponed in the case Iran stops its uranium enrichment, Motaki said "there is no need to hurry up."
In reference to the would be presence of an U.S. official at the Geneva meeting on Saturday, Motaki said "this is a positive development and I expect progress."
(SOL-AÖ)
(DIP)