Turkish PM lauds Irans positive approach to nuclear talks

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Turkey backed Irans 'positive approach to nuclear negotiations with world powers during a visit by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday that may point to a shift in the emphasis of Turkish foreign policy.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised Erdogan for his clear stance against Israel, Irans official media said.
The Turkish PM backed Irans right to peaceful nuclear energy, Iranian state television reported.
This is an energy project with peaceful, humanitarian purposes, he told reporters travelling with him in Iran.
Erdogan said Iran, in talks with six world powers in Geneva on Oct 1, showed it can work with Russia and the US on uranium enrichment. If their positive attitude is answered with a positive attitude, this will bring forward the process in the positive direction, he said.
In a swipe at Israel, Ahmadinejad told Erdogan, according to IRNA news agency: When an illegal regime has atomic weapons, it is not possible to prevent others from having access to peaceful nuclear energy.
Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly predicted Israels imminent demise, blamed foreign states for regional problems and called for an expansion of Tehran-Ankara ties. His comments appeared aimed at the West, including Turkeys ally the United States.
The more regional countries expand their ties ... the more they can remove their problems and limit the ill-wishers which have plots against them, he told Erdogan.
Bilateral Iran-Turkey trade reached $7 billion in 2008. Turkeys Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters last week he hoped the two countries could finalise a $3.5 billion deal to develop part of the worlds largest gas field in Iran.