Istanbul - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against a military strike on Iran's controversial nuclear plants, according to Turkish media reports Monday. Such an attack would be "madness" and its terrible consequences would not just affect Iran, Turkish newspapers quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan is to travel to Tehran next month for talks which will include discussion of Iran's nuclear programme. Turkey, a member of NATO, has good relations with neighbouring Iran.
Erdogan said that focusing nuclear discussions solely on Iran was not fair.
"We are completely against nuclear weapons in the Middle East," daily newspaper Radikal quoted the prime minister as saying at the end of his trip to the United States.
"But there is a country in the Middle East that possesses nuclear weapons: Israel. There is a difference, though; Israel is not a member of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), while Iran is."
Tensions over Iran's nuclear programme have worsened over the last few days after Tehran revealed it had a second uranium-enrichment facility.
Calls for military action and tougher sanctions against Iran have been increasing. Israel called for "crippling sanctions" and even Russia, traditionally a friend of Iran, has rebuked the country.
Representatives from the US, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany are set to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss ways out of the impending crisis.
Tehran has so far shown little willingness to compromise and wants to talk about global challenges rather than its own nuclear programme.
