Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that his country is opposed to using force against countries seeking nuclear technology for peaceful purpose.
"No one has the right to use coercive force against a country whose activities are aimed at peaceful nuclear purposes," he told a news conference in Tehran on Wednesday after talks with Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi.
"Any sound mind is opposed to the military use of nuclear technology, but on the other hand, no opposition should be made against peaceful nuclear activities," he was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.
Back from Seoul after attending a nuclear safety summit and having talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, Erdogan reiterated Ankara's willingness to host the next round of nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 - the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany -- and highlighted the Islamic Republic's readiness for negotiations on its disputed nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the talks would be held on April 13 at a venue yet to be decided, indicating Turkey as a possible option for hosting the event.
Erdogan said his country would be closely monitoring the process and the outcome of the talks, emphasizing Ankara's support for negotiations.
Iran and the P5+1 have so far held two rounds of talks, one in Geneva in December 2010, and another in the Turkish city of Istanbul in January 2011.
Tehran says it is ready to resume the talks based on common grounds not compromising any of its nuclear rights. It maintains that, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful objectives.
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