Erdogan slams West for sparking crisis over Iran\'s nuclear program

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the West for ‘sparking a crisis’ over Iran’s nuclear energy program, while turning a blind eye to Israel’s atomic activities. “We raise this issue [on] almost all international platforms. We urge them to take the necessary safety measures. But those who have nuclear facilities, who see nuclear as a right to them, do not hesitate in criticizing Iran,” the Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as saying during the opening ceremony of Turkey’s first particle accelerator facility on Wednesday. Stressing every country’s right to have nuclear energy facilities, Erdogan called for a “fair” approach toward nuclear issues. “You have to be fair. You will overlook … Israel’s nuclear activities but you will spark crisis over Iran. This is not fair,” he said. The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran refutes such allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Unlike Iran, Israel is a non-signatory to the NPT and continues to defy international calls to join the treaty. Israel, widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads, maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity over its nuclear work.