Grece urges Turkey to reconsider nuclear plans

Amid continuing efforts to stem the damage to nuclear power plants in Japan in the wake of a devastating earthquake, Greek President Karolos Papoulias on Friday urged Turkey to reconsider plans to build its own nuclear plants. "It's impossible at this time, when we have this disaster at the nuclear reactors in Japan that has shocked us all, that Turkey should want to build in an earthquake zone," Papoulias said. Countries including China and Germany put nuclear power development on hold after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, 217 kilometers north of Tokyo, resulting in fires, explosions and radiation leaks. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should consider this "many times" and Europeans "should intervene to prevent a disaster that would be in our own backyard, at our own doorstep," Papoulias added.