Turkey understands Iran’s desire to develop nuclear capacity

Turkish president has said he can understand the Iranian desire to develop their nuclear capacity but said he cannot argue that as to whether Tehran is planning to make nuclear weapons, Today's Zaman reported.

Abdullah Gul told Foreign Policy magazine that he is one of those that believe nuclear standoff between Iran and the West has to be resolved diplomatically.

He recalled statements Israel makes about making war and said he thinks "this is wrong."

"Whether or not we like a country, every country has their honor and their national feelings. I don't mean to in any way disregard the threat perception on the part of Israel either, but it's very important to look at issues from a broader perspective," Gul said in the interview.

Gul also made similar remarks last November when he said empathy is required to understand the underlying reasons why Iran is so determined to continue with its suspected nuclear program despite sanctions that have hurt Iran's economy.

"It is important to put oneself in their shoes and see how they perceive threats," Gul told The Guardian, referring to Israel's nuclear capability, which it has neither acknowledged nor denied.

Turkey spearheaded sustained efforts last year to revive nuclear diplomacy between Western nations and Iran and this month it hosted talks regarding Iran's nuclear program in ?stanbul. Both sides said they achieved progress in nuclear talks in ?stanbul and scheduled the new round of nuclear talks in Baghdad on May 23.

Gul also spoke about Turkish-Israeli relations and said ties between the two countries haven't deteriorated just because of Turkish government. "That's a very wrong image," he said, adding that what happened was that there was an attack on a humanitarian aid ship 72 miles off the coast, in international waters, and nine Turks were killed.

"That's not something we can forget. And until Israel does the things it needs to do, one cannot speak of a normalization of relations," he underlined.

Israeli naval commandos stormed Mavi Marmara ship carrying humanitarian aid to breach Israeli-impose Gaza blockade and killed nine Turkish civilians, one of them an American citizen. Turkey demands official apology, compensation to families of the victims and lift of Gaza blockade. Israel expressed only regret and said its soldiers acted in self-defense.

Gul said Israel does not really appreciate the value of their friends and those who govern Israel at the moment do not seem to have a farsighted look in the long term. He noted that Israeli leadership seems to be more engaged in a shortsighted strategic outlook.

"That seems to be the problem."

Speaking about the unrest and political transformation that has rocked the region in the past year, Gul said he does not think developments will go in a negative direction in the countries of the Arab Spring, referring to instability in Egypt and Libya, whose people could successfully oust their decrepit, authoritarian leaders last year.

Turkish president said Turkey has had for many years the basic tenets and rules of democracy in place and that Turkish people have always enjoyed freedom of expression and pluralism.

But Arab countries for many years, he added, were closed; they were looking inward, and they suffered under dictators who were quite harsh in the way they treated their people and that's why the opposition in those countries looked to be more radical.

Gul reminded that the prime minister in Tunisia, for example, spent more than 10 years in jail -- many of these new leaders were jailed in the last 10 to 15 years. Gul, however, said he doesn't see any type of revanchist approach in any of these people.

"They don't look to the past; they look to the future," the president noted.

Turkish president said America's open support for these democratic transitions was much appreciated by the people, particularly the youth and this moral support improved the American image, which was negative. He said for many years there were authoritarian regimes here that were supported by the West and those kinds of feelings won't go away overnight.

Evaluating the crisis in Syria, which has killed nearly 10,000 people since last March, Gul said Turkey has done a lot to encourage peaceful change in Syria and in Assad's father's time, there was no Internet, Facebook or Twitter. He said he has spoken to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about this, telling him that times have changed and that "you can't continue to do things like this."

Gul said after all this bloodshed, "we have reached the point of no return." He urged Russia and Iran to change their position regarding Syria and said they can't keep carrying Assad's water.

He urged Russia and Iran to be a part of the international community and said they must act jointly to resolve this crisis.


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