Turkey promotes sharing of experience at nuclear security summit in Seoul

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promoted the safe use of nuclear energy and called on the international community to share its experience in providing nuclear security on Tuesday. On the final day of a two-day international nuclear security summit in Seoul, South Korea, Erdogan advocated the safe, peaceful use of nuclear energy. "We should take coherent measures in terms of nuclear security. We should share all the knowledge and experience we have on ensuring the safe use of nuclear energy for the benefit of the international community," Erdogan said. The 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, attended by roughly 60 national representatives from Europe, Asia and the US, facilitated detailed discussions on how international cooperation can be used to mitigate nuclear threats. Erdogan said nuclear disasters like those at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in 2011 and in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986 prove the crucial importance of nuclear security on an international scale. Turkey, which Erdogan said is nearing the implementation of its own nuclear energy program, supports the right of all countries that have met international criteria to efficiently use nuclear energy. "Our target is to provide 10 percent of our electricity needs with nuclear power by 2030," said Erdogan of Turkey's ambitious nuclear program. The prime minister maintained that Turkey will abide by the highest security standards based on the principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) when implementing its nuclear power program. Nuclear terrorism is one of the most serious threats to global security and stability, and the international community must take action against that threat, Erdogan stated. "Turkey is committed to the goal of ensuring a world purified of nuclear weapons and of enabling the use of nuclear energy only for safe and peaceful purposes," he said. Meanwhile, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuesday the international community had asked for transparency with regards to Iran's nuclear program and during the IAEA inspections in Iran. Of Erdogan's planned visit to Tehran on Wednesday, Yildiz stressed, "We will tell the Iranians to be transparent vis-à-vis their nuclear program." Yildiz, who accompanied Erdogan to Seoul, met with high level executives of the Korean SK, KOSEB and HACO companies over breakfast on Tuesday. A summit of energy leaders will take place in Istanbul in April with the participation of around 70 countries. At a number of talks with state leaders and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday in Seoul, Erdogan touched upon the Syrian tragedy taking place near Turkey's southern border. Erdogan pleaded with world leaders to find an urgent solution within the scope of international law to quell the spilling of blood in the country. "Human rights violations in Syria have come to an unbearable level. The world should not remain a mere observer of that tragedy," Erdogan stressed during his talks with Ban Ki-moon. Erdogan also met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.