The largest Turkish daily Hürriyet said in today’s frontpage headline: "Historic decision for uranium" and wrote that Turkey is to become an important actor in the field of energy and an energy supply center for the Middle East.
Hurriyet’s report said that the recent energy deal signed with Iran and the willingness on the part of the U.S. to work jointly with Turkey on Iraqi oil and natural gas projects make Turkey an important actor in this field.
The report raid: “There are discussions within the ministry of energy about plans to build nuclear energy stations in Turkey that would also enrich uranium. Building of a facility for uranium enrichment in Turkey will likely be discussed at the international nuclear energy conference to be held in Istanbul on Friday. Iran's announcement last year that it might agree to the proposal of the enrichment of the uranium to be done in a third country, provided that it is in Turkey, sparked the new idea among Turkish officials. International nuclear energy officials and experts will soon discuss the issue in Istanbul. If Turkey became a uranium enrichment center, the U.S. would give its consent and countries in the region would be able to purchase the enriched uranium from Turkey."
Source: Hürriyet, Turkey, January 15, 2008
