Erdoğan rebukes West over ‘unfair’ pressure on Iran

Erdoğan’s remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera television, excerpts of which were published by the Anatolia news agency on Monday, came as world powers await Iran’s response to a United Nations-drafted deal for it to cut an atomic stockpile which the West fears could be used for weapons, ignoring an Oct. 23 deadline and challenging the basis of the pact. Erdoğan was to fly to Tehran later on Monday after concluding a visit to Pakistan.

Erdoğan said he did not favor any break in relations between Iran and the West, noting that a team of UN nuclear inspectors are currently in Iran to visit a recently revealed nuclear site. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts will examine an unfinished uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom to verify that it is for peaceful purposes.

But he said that it was “unfair and unjust” to put pressure on Iran while other countries have such weapons. He did not mention any particular country but was apparently referring to Israel, which is not a member of the IAEA and not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), despite having nuclear power.

“We don’t want nuclear weapons in Iran or in our region,” he said. Erdoğan has also said earlier that world powers possessing nuclear weapons should not pressure Iran over its nuclear program.

“So although Iran doesn’t have a weapon, those who say Iran shouldn’t have them are those countries which do,” he said in a separate interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, published on Monday. In the interview, Erdoğan also played down Western fears that Iran wants to build an atomic bomb as “gossip.”

“The world has to show its stance vis-à-vis this issue in a fair way. It would be unfair if it [the world] takes steps against IAEA members only. What will be done concerning non-IAEA members? The world and the UN have to work on this. If this is maintained and a stance is determined against non-member countries, then I believe that a very different environment of confidence will start to emerge,” he told Al Jazeera.

Turkey is currently a member of the 15-nation UN Security Council, which has already passed three rounds of sanctions on Iranian firms and individuals designed to persuade Tehran to halt uranium enrichment aimed at producing nuclear energy.  When asked about Turkey’s possible stance in the case of an implementation of an embargo against Iran, Erdoğan said such embargo was not on agenda at the moment.

“Do those who make a decision on embargoes have nuclear weapons or not? While having nuclear weapon in your hands, it is not fair to implement an embargo on another one,” Erdoğan said, echoing his remarks he made in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

At the time, Erdoğan said: “Our wish is that the world will get rid of the spread of threats from nuclear weapons. Of course the first five [the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US] should be leading these efforts because those who give advice on this issue should take the first step.”

Ahmadinejad friend, Sarkozy prejudiced

In response to a question on relations between Iran and the West following Iran’s presidential elections in June in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected, leading to massive street protests in Tehran, Erdoğan said he hoped those relations are on track and noted that he would discuss these issues with Ahmadinejad during his visit.

Iran is a country which has deeply rooted state conventions, Erdoğan said, adding: “You cannot ignore this country and constantly encouraging negative approaches towards this country will harm regional peace.”

Erdoğan described Ahmadinejad “as a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all” in the interview with The Guardian. But Erdoğan was not that optimistic when asked to comment on Turkey’s ties with those countries in the European Union, which oppose Turkey’s membership in the 27-nation bloc.

“Among leaders in Europe there are those who have prejudices against Turkey, like France and Germany. Previously under Mr. Chirac, we had excellent relations [with France] and he was very positive towards Turkey. But during the time of Mr. Sarkozy, this is not the case. It is an unfair attitude. The European Union is violating its own rules,” he said. “Being in the European Union we would be building bridges between the 1.5 billion people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the EU.”