'Noting that the positions of both Turkey and the US regarding the nuclear-weapons issue in Iran were the same.'
Turkey should help ensure Iran does not gain nuclear weapons, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday in Ankara, adding the country should extend its tour of duty in Afghanistan.
“The mutual goal of Iran not achieving a nuclear-weapons capability, that we completely agree on, we just need to reinforce,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference Saturday.
Mullen visited Ankara to congratulate his newly appointed counterpart, Gen. Isık Kosaner, the new chief of the Turkish General Staff.
Mullen discussed Afghanistan and Pakistan, the formation of a new government in Iraq, the joint struggle of Turkey and the United States against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Turkish Foreign Minister officials told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review Sunday.
Noting that the positions of both Turkey and the US regarding the nuclear-weapons issue in Iran were the same, Mullen said he did not plan to "question or rebut" Turkey over its “no” vote, but instead welcomed Turkey's stated intention to abide by United Nations sanctions.
The admiral said both countries agreed Iran should not achieve "nuclear weapons capability," and needed to do everything to ensure such a situation.
Turkey voted “no” on the US-backed U.N. sanctions against Iran in June, insisting on diplomacy as a solution to its neighbor's nuclear program.
The admiral said NATO is discussing potential locations for a missile-defense system of radar and interceptors including Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – although he did not specifically address the plan with Koşaner.
“The membership of NATO believes that having a missile-defense architecture is a very important capability that needs to be put in place and evolve over time,” he said.
Mullen praised Turkey’s role in charge of international troops in the region around the Afghan capital, Kabul, which expires in October, and in providing police training and staff for reconstruction teams.
“We would like to see Turkey sustain all of those efforts because they’ve been so important in Afghanistan and also because of the critical time in which we find ourselves in Afghanistan right now,” Mullen said.
Hurriyet Daily News