Turkey’s Defence Minster wants ties with Iran reviewed

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 04 – Turkey’s Defence Minister General Hilmi Özkök has called for a review of Ankara’s ties with Iran citing Tehran’s nuclear threat, several dailies have reported. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 04 – Turkey’s Defence Minister General Hilmi Özkök has called for a review of Ankara’s ties with Iran citing Tehran’s nuclear threat, several dailies have reported.

Özkök said that Iran’s sensitive nuclear activities constituted a “major threat” to Turkey’s national security.

The Turkish Defence Minister described comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which called for the destruction of Israel and threatened Muslim nations that developed ties with the Jewish state as “distressing”, and added, “Turkey must review its policy vis-à-vis Iran”.

Özkök holds large sway over Ankara’s foreign policy decisions.

Last Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Tehran not to meddle in other countries’ ties with Israel, instead calling on the Islamic Republic to apply “political sobriety”.