The U.S. state Department spokesman Tom Casey in response to a question regarding Turkey’s new energy deals with Iran said that for diplomacy to be effective in convincing Iran to suspend its nuclear program, support of all countries is needed, and that Turkey was no exception to that. Casey said, “We do not think that now is the time for people to be contemplating new investments in Iran’s petroleum or energy sector”.
A day earlier, on his way to the U.S., the Turkish P.M. Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that Iran and Russia were the main suppliers of natural gas to meet Turkey’s growing energy needs, and nobody could tell Turkey to cut its cooperation with these countries. Erdogan denied that visiting Department of State Undersecretary Nicholas Burns had asked Turkey to stop cooperating with Iran.
Source: Turkish Daily News, September 21, 2007
