Pakistan, Turkey call for peaceful solution

Pakistani and Turkish diplomats have called for a peaceful resolution to the international dispute over Iran's nuclear program, a government statement said Tuesday.

Photo: Pakistan, Turkey call for peaceful solution

Senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official Riaz Mohammad Khan and Ali Tuygan, undersecretary for Turkey's foreign affairs, made the comments after bilateral talks in the capital Islamabad on Monday, it said.

Regional and international issues including developments in the Middle East, South Asia and Afghanistan were discussed, and the two sides "stressed the need for an amicable settlement of the Iran nuclear issue," the statement said.

Tehran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its European allies believe Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon.

The West has proposed a U.N. Security Council resolution spelling out a number of demands, including that Iran stop enriching uranium, the material that can be used to make a nuclear bomb.

Pakistani and Turkish officials, who last met in Ankara in August 2003, also reviewed bilateral relations, in particular trade and economic ties as well as cultural and educational cooperation, the statement said.

Later, Tuygan called on Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri at his office, reports the AP.

I.L.