Editorial note: The excerpt below is from a speech delivered by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. on November 14, 2008.



"Nuclear energy to be used for humanitarian purposes vs nuclear energy being used for mass destruction. We in Turkey support the former. It would not be proper for us to support the latter. When we discuss this matter with Iran they tell us that they are interested only in the former. The International Atomic Energy Institute [IAEA] is not doing anything tangible. There's nothing conclusive.

Whilst we are of this view, it is also paramount that if Iran is actually building nuclear weapons of mass destruction, those who are telling Iran 'not to' should not possess these nuclear weapons in the first place. You have them and you are telling the other party not to have them. It is only natural that the other party will react defensively, every country would do the same. I see this as a dilemma. We should all get together and review this approach first.

Today in the world we live the biggest spending is allocated for armament and not for the development of poor countries. If Iran is engaged in the latter usage of nuclear energy, she must be doing so for this reason. We always maintain our proper persuasion [in this matter] and shall continue to do so in the future."