TEHRAN (Hurriyet)–Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutgolu chided the US and its allies a day after signing an agreement with Iran for a nuclear fuel swap, a diplomatic idea highly regarded months ago when it was first floated but thought to be an impossibility.
Davutoglu criticized the Western powers Tuesday for insisting on sanctions and failing to appreciate both the arduous work that went into the deal Turkey and Brazil signed to swap nuclear fuel with Iran as well as its historic significance.
Western powers largely greeted the deal with skepticism and the United States said it would not halt efforts to implement new sanctions against Iran.
“The discussions on sanctions will spoil the atmosphere and the escalation of statements may provoke the Iranian public,” the Turkish foreign minister told a group of reporters after an official press conference in Istanbul.
“Our mandate was limited to striking a deal on the swap,” Davutoglu said. “If reaching an agreement on the swap was not important, why would we spend so much time and energy on the issue?”
Davutoglu was one of the signatories of Monday’s deal, along with his Brazilian and Iranian counterparts, which commits Iran to shipping much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for fuel for a nuclear reactor. He said Turkish and Brazilian diplomats would explain the details of the agreement to all relevant parties in the international community.
“With the agreement yesterday, an important psychological threshold has been crossed toward establishing mutual trust,” Davutoglu said. “This is the first indirect deal signed by Iran with the West in 30 years.
Davutoglu said there is no need to doubt the deal, touting the agreement as a basis for overcoming the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is a cover for a nuclear-arms drive. The agreement covers the swap of material, not Iran’s enrichment program, the minister said, adding that all countries have the right to enrich uranium and no nation can be denied its right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The Turkish foreign minister also objected to criticism over the amount of fuel that will be swapped. Critics of the deal argue that the 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium that Iran agreed to have stored in Turkey was an amount set in October, when the idea of a swap first came about. Since then, they say, Iran has continued to produce more low-enriched uranium.
According to Davutoglu, U.S. President Barack Obama recently sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding the negotiations and the quantity mentioned in this letter was exactly 1,200 kilograms. The foreign minister said all relevant parties were kept informed at all stages of the negotiations with Iran and claimed that the early skeptical reactions stem from the fact that a successful deal was not expected.
“I think there is no problem with the text of the deal. The problem is that they were not expecting that Iran would accept,” he said. “They had a reflex conditioned on the expectation that Iran will always say no. That’s why they were a little bit caught by surprise.”
Davutoglu and his Brazilian counterpart have already written a letter to the members of the U.N. Security Council, as well as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, explaining the details of the deal. Erdogan is also expected to send a letter back to Obama. Davutoglu, meanwhile, will continue his telephone diplomacy. He was scheduled to talk Tuesday with European Union foreign ministers as well as Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
“There is a political will clearly expressed by Iran, [and] signed by Turkey and Brazil, countries very much respected in the international community; and the whole thing is linked to a calendar,” Davutoglu said. “Now it is time to sit and work to create the conditions for true peace on the basis created [by this deal], not to make speculations or voice suspicions.”
The Turkish foreign minister also said the deal could not have happened had it not been for Obama’s multilateral engagement policies.
It seems the Jewish lobby was burning the midnight oil last night trying to outmaneuver its genocide denying so called “ally” Turkey who is again leaning closer to the ideologically driven Iranian regime.
Get ready for another DAVOS spat between the two supposed love birds – Israel and Turkey…”one minute, one minute, one minute”…LMAO!!!!
Iran better be careful,do they know of turkeys YELLOW STAIN,from WW1.They turned their backs on their allies,the Germans/Austrians,to grovel and join the Allies,when they were soundly beaten in a fair fight.
In WW2 Turkey was not even neutral,althought officially she said she was.
Turkey was selling to Germany Iron and other material which was essential in the manufacture of military equipment for Germany in return for Gold, and the Gold came from Jewish victims of the holocaust.
When Turkey saw that Germany was defeated soundly, she joined the war on the side of the allies 5 days prior to the ending of WW2.
Judge for yourself the sinister policies of Turkey.
Like other neutral countries, Turkey was bound to the Nazis through trade, but that’s where any similarities stop. Turkey descended from the Ottoman Empire and was primarily a Moslem nation. During the World War I, Turkey had aligned itself with Germany. Immediately following WWI, Turkey conducted a program of exterminating the Armenians, a charge that Turkey still vigorously denies. Moreover, Turkey began WWII bound to Britain and France by the military alliance of October 1939; declared neutrality in June 1940 after the fall of France; and ended the war allied with the Allies. Much of Turkey’s proclaimed neutrality was a result of Turkish fears of a Nazi invasion. After the fall of the Balkans to the Nazis, Turkey signed a Treaty of Friendship with Germany in June 1941.
Throughout the war, Turkey walked a tightrope, balancing the needs and expectations of the Nazis against those of the Allies. While Istanbul was a center of spying and intrigue during the war, Turkey took no overt action against the Nazis, and in turn the Nazis never violated Turkey’s borders. In October 1941, Turkey signed an important trade agreement with Germany. In exchange for raw material, especially chromite ore, Germany would supply Turkey with war materials and other finished goods. At the same time, Turkey maintained friendly relations with the U.S. and Britain, which supplied Turkey with modern war equipment in exchange for chromite ore. Turkey’s chromite ore was critical for the Nazis. Turkey was their sole source for chrome, a vital element in steel making. Albert Speer stated that Turkey’s chromite ore was so vital to the Nazis that war production would come to a complete stop 10 months after the supply was cut off. The ore was shipped from Turkey by rail through some of the most rugged country in the world. Towards the end of the war, the allies targeted bridges along the main rail line to stop the chromite shipments.
In 1941, Turkey was added to the lend-lease nations available to receive equipment. In January 1943, during the Casablanca Conference, FDR considered asking Turkey to enter the war. In November 1943, all three of the big leaders, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, called for Turkey’s entry into the war. In February 1944, after Turkey made its entry into the war contingent upon massive military assistance and a significant Allied military presence, Britain and the U.S. stopped their aid program. By 1943, the Allies foresaw no threat from a Nazi invasion. It wasn’t until April 1944 before Turkey ceased the chromite exports to Germany, and then only after being threatened with the same economic sanctions that the other neutral countries were under. Later in August, Turkey suspended all diplomatic relations with Germany. Late in February 1945, on the eve of establishing the United Nations, Turkey declared war on Germany.
Turkey was not a major receiver of gold from the Nazis. In fact, the best estimate of the US experts was in the range of $15 million dollars. Most of the gold was believed, to have been looted from Belgium. In addition, two private German banks, the Deutsche Bank and the Dresdner Bank, sold gold from the Melmer account in exchange for foreign currency.
Allied efforts to recover gold from Turkey were never pursued with any vigor. Turkey’s geographical location, controlling access to the Black Sea, and its border with the Soviet Union made Turkey a cornerstone for US strategic interests in the coming Cold War. In 1946, formal talks were held considering the gold received from the Nazis as well as German assets in Turkey. The Allies estimated that German assets totaled $51 million. In March 1947, the Truman Doctrine included Turkey along with Greece. In July, the US signed a $150 million trade agreement with Turkey. The trade agreement dealt a deathblow to any further negotiations on restitution.52 Turkey never turned over any gold.
I just gotta wonder what happens when one of those Turkish missles finds its mark on an Isreali or American airplane.If the Turks help the Iranians build a bomb then what?Or better yet,what happens when Turkey keeps the urainiam that they will enrich for the Iranians?Turkey has sympathizers for extremeists and would prove to be a great place to launch attacks against Isreal or American forces.Can America afford to aleinate Turkey?Will America sit back and hope for the best?How can a so called “trusted ally in the war on terror” be trusted when they deploy missles for a sworn enemy of America?When Isreal is threatend by Iran and they have no choice but to go after nuclear targets,will they stop at Iran or will they go after other precieved threats?This whole Russian,Turkey,and Iran nuclear and missle defense deal can laed to a disasterous end.
I wonder what the turks will do will all this uranium. Back in the mid to late 80’s there were more than a handful of turks from turkey studying nuclear engineering at Iowa state. I’m sure by now they live and are working on the turkish nuclear program.
Speaking of Germany and Turkey who were chummy in World War 2 (and Turkey cost the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers by cozying up to Hitler), please see this article by Robert Fisk:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/living-proof-of-the-armenian-genocide-1918367.html
where he writes this paragraph. Notice the part about Hitler’s returning Talaat’s body to Germany:
“According to Trowbridge’s account, only 669 of the children finally
survived, 456 of them Armenian, 184 of them Kurds, along with 29
Syrians. Talaat Pasha did indeed die for his sins. He was assassinated
by an Armenian in Berlin in 1922 – his body was later returned to
Turkey on the express orders of Adolf Hitler. Jemal Pasha was murdered
in the Turkish town of Tiflis. Halide Edip Adivar lived in England
until 1939 when she returned to Turkey, became a professor of English
literature, was elected to the Turkish parliament and died in 1964
at the age of 80”
Its the YELLOW STAIN ole turkie bluff again.I dont think Iran would be that stupid to trust old YELLOW STAIN TURKEY who stabbed previous partners in the back.
The Turks might be bluffing,but the Iranians are not.When Isreal attacks Iran,Iran will launch thier Turkish missles on American targets.The Iranians are being set up,the Turks are simply going to claim that they had no control over the Iranians and never intended to provide for Americas enemy.The sad thing is that HiC and the 50/50 bar will believe them.