Pakistan, Turkey call for peaceful solution to Iran nuclear issue
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Turkish diplomats have called for a peaceful resolution to the international dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, a government statement said on Tuesday.
Senior Foreign Ministry official Riaz Mohammad Khan and Ali Tuygan – undersecretary for Turkey’s Foreign Affairs – made the comments after bilateral talks in on Monday, it said. Regional and international issues including developments in the Middle East, South Asia and Afghanistan were discussed, and the two sides “stressed the need for an amicable settlement of the Iran nuclear issue”, the statement said.
Tehran has said that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its European allies believe that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon.
The West has proposed a UN Security Council resolution spelling out a number of demands, including that Iran stop enriching uranium – the material that can be used to make a nuclear bomb.
Pakistani and Turkish officials – who last met in Ankara in August 2003 – also reviewed bilateral relations, in particular trade and economic ties as well as cultural and educational cooperation, the statement said.
Later, Tuygan called on Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri at his office. Kasuri will visit Ankara later this month on the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. AP
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