TURKEY – MEDIATION – US

Washington, 12 November (IranVNC)—Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said his country is prepared to mediate between the administration of US President-elect Barack Obama and Iran, the New York Times newspaper reports.

Erdogan told the newspaper in an interview on 9 November that a message of congratulations sent by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Obama last week was “a step that has to be made use of.”

He added: “We are ready to be the mediator. I do believe we could be very useful.”

Obama has said that he is ready to break from US policy and hold direct talks with Iran on issues of concern, including Tehran’s nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.

Tehran has said its nuclear activities have solely peaceful goals, like generating civilian nuclear power.

Erdogan said that Ankara was observing the Iran-U.S. relations “with great concern”, and added: “We expect such issues to be resolved at the table. Wars are never solutions in this age.”