UK Prime Minister Cameron in Turkey: Iran, Gaza, Turkey’s EU bid on the agenda

British PM visits Turkey: Iran, Gaza on agenda

ANKARA, Turkey — British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Turkey on Tuesday, saying the world needs Turkey’s help in pushing Iran to address concerns about its nuclear program and harshly criticizing Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed nine Turkish activists.

Cameron, addressing Turkish businessmen, also declared that Britain was a staunch backer of Turkey’s troubled bid to join the European Union. The visit — coming early in his term — was a measure of Britain’s acknowledgment of Turkey as a critical ally in a conflict-prone region.

Cameron’s strong reference to the Turkish aid flotilla was likely to please his Turkish hosts, though he said an Israeli inquiry into the May 31 incident should be swift and transparent. Cameron later also backed Turkey’s demand for an international inquiry into the raid, saying a U.N.-led process is “right.”

“The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable,” Cameron said. In a reference to the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory, he said: “Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all people in Gaza “are living under constant attacks and pressure in an open air prison.”

He said Israeli commando raid in international waters “cannot be described in any other way but piracy” and wondered why the world acts against hijackings by Somali pirates but remains silent in the face of Israeli actions.

“Israel must apologize as soon as possible, pay compensation and lift the blockade,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan, meanwhile, defended his country’s position in supporting Iran’s right to acquire peaceful nuclear energy, criticizing world powers for turning a blind eye to Israel’s widely accepted nuclear program.

The European Union and Canada issued new sanctions Monday targeting Iran’s foreign trade, banking and energy sectors, in an attempt to thwart Iran’s nuclear program. The EU’s measures also blacklist Iran’s shipping and air cargo companies.

“New sanctions the EU announced yesterday are designed to persuade Iran to give the international community confidence that its nuclear program really is peaceful as Iran claimed,” Cameron said.

Iran denies that it is working on a nuclear weapon, saying its program is intended solely to generate energy for its growing population. Turkey has opposed sanctions against neighboring Iran, and says the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful, despite Western suspicions.

Turkey and Brazil voted against the U.N. sanctions on Tehran last month.

“We need Turkey’s help in making it clear to Iran just how serious we are about engaging fully with the international community,” Cameron said.

Erdogan responded during a joint news conference with Cameron: “We are definitely against nuclear weapons in our region and we routinely say this to Iran.”

Under a proposed deal in May with Brazil and Turkey, Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low-enriched uranium to Turkey, where it would be stored. In exchange, Iran would get fuel rods made from 20 percent enriched uranium. That level of enrichment is high enough for use in research reactors but too low for nuclear weapons.

But, since the plan didn’t mandate a halt on Iran’s enrichment process, it fell short of U.N. demands.

Cameron also visited the mausoleum of modern and secular Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and laid a wreath at the tomb — a tradition expected of all visiting dignitaries.

Cameron said Britain strongly supported Turkey’s membership bid in the European Union, despite concerns that it was turning away from some Western policies. Turkey faces opposition to its full membership in the EU, mainly from France and Germany.

“When I think about what Turkey has done to defend Europe as a NATO ally and what Turkey is doing today in Afghanistan alongside our European allies, it makes me angry that your progress toward EU membership can be frustrated in the way it has been,” Cameron said. “It is wrong to say Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent.”

Cameron was flying later Tuesday to India.

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Associated Press Writer Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report.