News

TEHRAN – 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... >>>