Tag: Umit Yardim

  • Envoy: Turkey Not to Lose Friendly Ties with Iran

    Envoy: Turkey Not to Lose Friendly Ties with Iran

    Envoy: Turkey Not to Lose Friendly Ties with Iran

    A0967714TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkey’s Ambassador to Iran Umit Yardim stressed the two countries’ resolve to maintain and boost their good relations, and stressed that Turkey attaches great importance to its ties with Iran and will keep these relations strong at any cost.

    Speaking to FNA, Yardim pointed to the recent visit to Iran by Turkish Prime Minister Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and stated, “Erdogan’s visit to Iran after the meeting in Seoul had this special message that Iran is very important to Turkey.”

    “Turkey may not lose its friendship with Iran at any price,” Yardim reiterated.

    “Turkey and Iran are two great neighbors of each other and we have had and do have good cooperation,” the ambassador said, and added, “Leaders of the two countries are striving to continue these good relations, and we try to keep this cooperation continued.”

    Also earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a telephone conversation with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Saeed Jalili lauded the two neighboring countries’ ties as “strategic and friendly”.

    During the conversation on Friday, Davutoglu praised Iran’s proposal for Iraq to hold the upcoming talks between Tehran and the six major world powers as “wise”.

    He also reiterated Ankara’s Preparedness to host the negotiations.

    Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari has welcomed the proposal by Tehran calling on Baghdad to host the new round of the talks between Iran and Group 5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany.)

    Iran’s proposal was made during a meeting between Zebari and a high-ranking Iranian delegation, headed by Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Undersecretary Ali Baqeri and the SNSC Director-General for Arab Affairs Reza Amiri in Baghdad on Tuesday.

    The last meeting between the two sides took place in Istanbul in January 2011. Iran and the G5+1 had also held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010.

    via Fars News Agency :: Envoy: Turkey Not to Lose Friendly Ties with Iran.

  • Turkey enters no intl. deal without considering Iran ties

    Turkey enters no intl. deal without considering Iran ties

    Turkey enters no intl. deal without considering Iran ties: envoy

    Tehran Times Political Desk

    02 AM64TEHRAN – The Turkish ambassador to Iran has said that Turkey has taken its relationship with Iran into consideration before entering into any international agreement including the NATO agreement on the establishment of a ballistic missile defense shield in Turkey.

    “In any political process, when we are weighing up options, we certainly take account of our relationship with Iran,” Ambassador Umit Yardim said in an interview with the Fars news agency when asked about his judgment on the establishment of a missile defense shield in Turkey near border with Iran.

    “It is completely a technical issue. During the Lisbon summit, Turkey transparently expressed its views on the issue. In this process, the most important matter is Iran-Turkey relationship and Turkey expressed its concerns in this regard,” Yardim said.

    On the first day of the 2010 Lisbon summit, the heads of state of NATO agreed to establish a missile defense system that would have the capability of covering all member states.

    On the reasons why Turkey took part in NATO operation against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces while Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously spoken against military intervention in Libya, Yardim said Turkey only took part in the UN humanitarian mission in Libya and did not send any forces on combat mission.

    The ambassador also commented that the crisis in Libya can be resolved only through dialogue between hostile Libyan groups, adding no country should meddle in Libya’s internal affairs.

    via tehran times : Turkey enters no intl. deal without considering Iran ties: envoy.

  • Turkey questions P5+1 objection

    Turkey questions P5+1 objection

    Ankara’s envoy to Tehran says the world’s major powers should explain the reason for their objection to Turkey hosting the multifaceted talks between Iran the P5+1.

    Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Umit Yardim
    Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Umit Yardim

    On October 14, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton proposed three-day talks to be held in mid-November in the Austrian capital of Vienna, expressing hope that Tehran would “respond positively” to the offer.

    Iran’s proposed date and venue for talks with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany — were announced last week in a letter sent by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili to his counterpart Catherine Ashton.

    Ashton accepted Iran’s proposed date for talks, but suggested Vienna or Switzerland as the venue for the first meeting.

    “P5+1 officials should answer why they have objected to Istanbul hosting negotiations between Iran and the P5+1,” Umit Yardim told IRNA on Sunday.

    “Of course where negotiations are held is not important, the key point is conducting the talks,” Yardim added.

    “Turkey supports finding a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear issue,” the Turkish envoy concluded.

    Iran has announced that it will negotiate the issue of a nuclear fuel swap with the Vienna group — France, Russia, the US, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — within the framework of the Tehran declaration, and that its multifaceted talks with the P5+1 will not include the nuclear issue.

    Iran signed a declaration with Turkey and Brazil on May 17 based on which Tehran agreed to exchange 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil with nuclear fuel.

    The US and its allies, however, snubbed the declaration and used their influence on the UN Security Council to press for fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic over the allegation that Tehran might pursue a military nuclear program.

    Iranian officials refute US allegations and stress that Tehran has always been interested in the peaceful applications of nuclear energy.

    MYA/HGH/MMN