Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope that a diplomatic solution could be found to a dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
Speaking to CNN's Christian Amanpour, Erdogan said Turkey had had a strategic alliance with Iran since the 17th century, adding that his country wanted a diplomatic solution to the problem.
"I believe that we can find a way out. I am here for a diplomatic solution," Erdogan said, adding that countries that were members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) "must all work together on this, and as (for) Turkey, we could act as a very important intermediary."
"Cacophony"
Erdogan said Turkey did not want to see any nuclear weapons in the Middle East, noting that Israel, which did not recognize the NPT and was believed to have nuclear weapons, remained a member of the IAEA.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week suddenly called off plans to attend the summit, apparently in an attempt to escape any Turkey or Egypt questioning of his country's nuclear arsenal.
However, most experts estimate that Israel has at least between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country's Dimona nuclear reactor.
"Why do we not say the same thing to the country that does not recognize the NPT? That is also a cause for concern for me," Erdogan said.
"It is important that we try to take steps to overcome those difficulties, so that we can strengthen peace in the Middle East," he said.
Erdogan called on Israel to make a contribution to peace, which he said was proving difficult because when Israel's coalition government spoke, "it's not a symphony, it's a cacophony."
Israel, which has initiated several wars in the region in its 60-year history, has not denied having nuclear weapons, but has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and hasn’t open its facilities for IAEA perusal.
Israel also often threatens Iran an attack over its nuclear sites.
Iran says it enriches uranium for civilian applications and that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has a right to the technology already in the hands of many others.
"Armenia bill"
On the Armenian allegations, Erdogan told CNN he was confident that the U.S. president would not use the term "genocide" to describe the incidents of 1915.
"That would be my expectation, because to this day, no American leader has uttered that word, and I believe that President Obama will not," he said.
Erdogan underlined that the Turkish people also suffered terrible losses back then.
"No nation, no people has the right to impose the way it remembers history to another nation or people -- and Turkey does not try to do that," he added.
Erdogan was due to meet Obama on the sidelines of the nuclear summit on Tuesday.
PHOTO CAPTION
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., Monday, April 12, 2010.
Agencies