COMPILED FROM WIRE SERVICES
ISTANBUL
6th November 2018
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu speaks in a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Tokyo, Japan,
Nov. 05, 2018. (AA Photo)
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday criticized the U.S. resumption of sanctions on Iran as unilateral, not wise and dangerous, calling for a dialogue and engagement instead.
Çavuşoğlu, in Tokyo for talks with Japanese leaders, told reporters that Turkey opposes sanctions because they don’t achieve results.
“As a principle, Turkey is against sanctions and we don’t believe that any result can be achieved through sanctions,” he said.
“Cornering is not wise, isolating Iran is dangerous and punishing the Iranian people is not fair.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration’s resumption of sanctions on Iran took effect Monday. More than 700 individuals, entities, aircraft, and vessels were blacklisted, including 50 Iranian banks and their domestic and foreign subsidiaries.
Turkey is one of eight major importers of Iranian oil spared temporarily from immediate penalties.
Still, Turkey has to be frank with its ally the U.S. about its opposition. The U.S. “unilateral” measure affects the world, including Turkey, one-third of whose gas imports come from Iran, Çavuşoğlu said, and urged Washington to find other reasonable solutions.
“I think instead of sanctions, meaningful dialogue and engagement is much useful and this is our principle,” he said.
more:
https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/11/06/isolating-iran-is-dangerous-unwise-fm-cavusoglu