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US Iran sanctions aimed at ‘upsetting global balance’: Erdogan
ANKARA, Nov 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Tuesday hit out at new sanctions on Iran imposed by the administration of
President Donald Trump, saying they were aimed at upsetting the global
balance and against international law.
Washington on Monday announced the sanctions on the Islamic Republic that
aim to isolate the country’s banking sector and slash its oil exports. Turkey
was one of eight countries exempted from the demand to stop buying Iranian
oil.
“We don’t find the (Iran) sanctions appropriate,” Erdogan was quoted as
saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
“Because to us, they are aimed at upsetting the global balance,” he added.
“They are against international law and diplomacy. We don’t want to live in
an imperial world.”
Erdogan’s comments came after his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned
that isolating Iran was “dangerous.”
“While we were asking (for) an exemption from the United States, we have
also been very frank with them that cornering Iran is not wise. Isolating
Iran is dangerous and punishing the Iranian people is not fair,” he told a
press conference during a trip to Japan.
“Turkey is against sanctions, we don’t believe any results can be achieved
through the sanctions,” he added. “I think instead of sanctions, meaningful
dialogue and engagement is much more useful.”
– Waivers –
Washington has imposed two sets of sanctions this year after pulling out
of a nuclear pact agreed between world powers and Iran that President Donald
Trump slammed as “defective”.
The latest round went into effect on Monday.
Washington has granted eight countries, including Turkey and Japan, waivers
to allow them to continue importing Iranian oil without facing diplomatic
consequences.
Mainly Sunni Turkey has a complex relationship with Shiite Iran that has
seen disputes notably on what Ankara has seen as moves for domination of Iraq
by the majority Shia community.
But the two countries are also working closely on a host of issues, notably
ending the conflict in Syria even though both Ankara and Tehran are in theory
on opposite sides of the civil war. Iranian oil and gas exports are also
crucial for resource-poor Turkey.
The new sanctions have sparked furious reactions from Iran, whose President
Hassan Rouhani said the country would “proudly bypass your illegal, unjust
sanctions”.
On Monday, Washington vowed to be “relentless” in countering Iran, with
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying the US wanted Iran to make a “180-
degree turn” and abandon its “current revolutionary course”.
BSS/AFP/RY/1928 hrs