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Turkey says sanctions against Iran will not work
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro published on Tuesday, Erdoğan criticized countries pushing for another round of sanctions in the Security Council, of which Turkey is a non-permanent member.
“We consider that this question should be resolved diplomatically,” he said. “Sure, sanctions are an issue at the moment, but I don’t think that the ones being discussed can bring results.”
Erdoğan is going to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday as part of a two-day trip to France. The United States, Britain, France and Germany expect to meet with Russia and China in New York this week to begin drafting a new round of sanctions.
Once the five permanent, veto-holding Security Council members, plus Germany, agree, they will present the proposal to the other 10 council members. Lebanon, Turkey and Brazil are likely to oppose the idea.
“Those who took the decision to apply [previous sanctions] were the first to violate them,” Erdoğan said in the interview. “The French, the Germans, the English, the Americans and the Chinese. They are all involved and still manage to indirectly send their products to Iran.”
In regards to Sarkozy’s firm objection to Turkey’s full European Union membership, Erdoğan first of all recalled that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, another opponent of Turkey’s full EU entry, has paid two official visits to Turkey since 2006.
Noting that Sarkozy had visited Turkey when he was a young man, Erdoğan said he will urge him to visit Turkey to try to win him over to the prospect of Turkey joining the EU.
“He should come and see today’s Turkey,” Erdoğan said, suggesting that during this visit Sarkozy would see that Turkey has been more progressive in certain fields than many members of the EU.
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