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Turkey supports Iran’s nuclear rights - President

16 February 2011 04:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish President Abdullah Gul says Turkey supports Iranâ€™s nuclear rights and will play a constructive role in Iranâ€™s nuclear program in the future, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The visiting Turkish president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Press TV in Tehran on Tuesday.

â€œWe want to see this dispute solved in a peaceful wayâ€¦ through diplomacy and dialogue,â€ he said.

Commenting on Turkeyâ€™s military cooperation with the United States in NATO, he said that the US cannot use bases on Turkish soil for military purposes, such as for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, unless Ankara gives official approval.

He stated that every military facility in Turkey is under the control of Turkish commanders, noting that â€œwithout our knowledge, nothing can happen there.â€

Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and thus has the right to enrich uranium to produce fuel.

Tehran has always insisted that its nuclear energy program is totally peaceful.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop a military nuclear program.

To solve the standoff, the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration in Tehran on May 17, according to which Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Despite the fact that Iran agreed to conduct the fuel swap in a third country, the US and its European allies snubbed the declaration and pushed through a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Iran.