Turkey in bid to rally support for Iran nuclear deal

Erdoğan spoke to US President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening and was due to call the leaders of France, Britain, China and Germany, all members of what is commonly referred to as the P5+1 -- a group which consists of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany which has pressed for Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment activity.

But Erdoğan, speaking at a joint press conference with Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Ankara, said he was also seeking support from neighboring countries, a move that appears to be aimed at broadening the base of international support for the deal. Erdoğan spoke to Azerbaijan’s President İlham Aliyev, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. “I would be happy if we can make the slightest contribution to the world peace,” Erdoğan said, urging the West to heed the conciliatory step taken by Iran.

Brazil and Turkey brokered a surprise deal on Monday, in which Iran agreed to send its high-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for fuel rods for a medical research reactor. Turkey, Brazil and Iran have urged a halt to talk of further sanctions because of the deal, but critics in the West insist the deal was only a tactic to avert or delay sanctions.

Despite the deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil, the US proposed a draft sanctions resolution, agreed to by all five permanent UN Security Council members after months of negotiation, to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

Brazil and Turkey also appealed to the Security Council to consider to the deal Iran has agreed to and refrain from sanctions, saying in a letter sent to council members on Wednesday that the compromise they brokered is the best way to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

In the letter, the two countries criticized the US-proposed draft resolution. “Brazil and Turkey are convinced that it is time to give a chance to negotiations and to avoid measures that are detrimental to a peaceful solution to this matter,” the letter said. Iran criticized the sanctions resolution earlier Wednesday, calling it “illegitimate.”

Under the Monday deal, Iran is now expected to send the proposal to the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after which it will send 1,200 kilograms of its uranium to Turkey.

Erdoğan said Obama was focused on the content of the letter Iran would send to the IAEA in their telephone conversation. “He said the US was attaching big importance to this,” he said of the conversation. “The president stressed the international community’s continuing and fundamental concerns about Iran’s overall nuclear program,” the White House said in a statement summarizing Obama’s telephone conversation with Erdoğan.

Obama told Erdoğan that the international community is waiting for “formal and authoritative message” from Iran to IAEA, according to the statement.

Russia also urged Iran to send the proposal to the IAEA as soon as possible. Iran has said it will respond to the IAEA by May 24. “We call on Iran to send its proposal to the IAEA as quickly as possible so that the scheme for the fuel exchange can be agreed,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Italy on Thursday.

But he said the deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil should not hinder discussions in the Security Council about sanctions.

Iran says it could cancel uranium deal

Meanwhile, Iran said on Thursday that it could cancel its agreement with Turkey and Brazil to transfer some of its uranium abroad if the UN Security Council approves the sanctions.

“If [the West] issues a new resolution against Iran, we will not be committed to Tehran’s statement and the dispatching of fuel outside Iran will be cancelled,” prominent lawmaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar was quoted as saying by Iran’s Mehr news agency.

“It is highly probable that in the near future the fourth round of resolutions will become operational against Iran,” Bahonar added.

The new sanctions would target Iranian banks and call for the inspection of vessels suspected of carrying cargo related to Iran’s nuclear or missile programs. 

Turkey to up efforts for Kosovo's recognition

Turkey has reiterated its commitment to secure international recognition for Kosovo. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara with his Kosovar counterpart, Hashim Thaci, where he said Kosovo is a key and strategic country for Turkey in the Balkans and that he will continue to advocate the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state on every international platform.

Kosovo, which had for many years been de facto independent, officially declared its independence in February 2008, with Turkey being one of the first states to recognize it. Sixty-nine countries currently recognize this war-torn nation. Noting that Syria and Greece have invited their “brother” (the Kosovar prime minister) to their countries, Erdoğan said he had a chance to talk to the leaders of Azerbaijan, Libya, Qatar, Syria and Greece on Thursday, adding that he hopes to see positive results concerning Kosovo to come from these countries, too.

Citing large-scale projects undertaken by Turkish companies in Kosovo, Erdoğan said they hope for Kosovo's integration with Euro-Atlantic structures and that Turkey will always support the process. Noting that he plans to visit Kosovo soon, Erdoğan said the trip will be very productive.

Expressing gratitude to Erdoğan for his personal efforts to get Kosovo recognized, Thaci told the news conference that Kosovo has built good relations with all countries in the region, adding that they also have the political will to establish bilateral relations with Serbia as well. Musa Taşpınar Ankara