Turkey let nuclear weapons related material into Iran?
Yet another Wikileaks document reports that Israel accused Turkey of allowing weapons and material for Iran's nuclear program to be shipped across Turkey long before anyone had ever heard of the Mavi Marmara. The materials were allowed through Turkey “with Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan's full knowledge,” wrote Frederic Bereyziat, a senior French Foreign Ministry official for Israel and the peace process, who took notes on the second annual Franco-Israeli Strategic Dialogue in October 2009.Given that Turkey has announced that they support Hezbullah and that they do not want NATO to station missiles on their territory because they are afraid that those missiles will be used to defend Israel against Iran, I don't doubt that the Turks are helping Iran's nuclear program.
According to the leaked cable, the French replied that Israel would need to have clear and concrete proof of such activity before leveling accusations against Turkey. The Israelis replied that they were collecting evidence that they would eventually publicize.
The “five to six hours” of talks between delegations led by Pierre Sellal, director-general of the French Foreign Ministry, and Yossi Gal, director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, covered a wide range of issues, including the Middle East peace process, Turkey, Syria and Iran, according to Bereyziat.
The French official said the Israelis explained that they would not take strong public positions condemning what they perceived as Turkey’s recent “strategic shift away from Western positions on the peace process, Iran and Israel’s nuclear program.”
Erdoğan’s public comments about Israel’s nuclear weapons had particularly irked the Israelis, Bereyziat said, describing the prime minister’s remarks as unprecedented by a Turkish leader.
Labels: Iranian nuclear program, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, Wikileaks
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:45 PM
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