Ankara to attend NAM meet in Iran

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz will travel to Tehran tonight to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, a body in which Turkey is an observer member.

Yılmaz is co-chair of the Joint Economic Commission (KEK) between the two neighboring countries. Since the summit is being held at the heads of state level, Yılmaz will also be considered to be representing President Abdullah Gül. The president has recently been prohibited from traveling abroad for two months by health professionals who have been treating him in hospital for a recent acute ear infection. Yet, his absence at the summit in Tehran is not related to his illness as he hadn’t planned to participate in the summit in the first place.

Turkey is not a NAM member, but it received an invitation as a special guest. Iran, meanwhile, said on Aug. 28 it has no plans to show its nuclear sites to diplomats visiting Tehran for NAM summit, contradicting an earlier offer by a deputy foreign minister, state news agency IRNA reported. “We have no specific plans for a visit to Iran’s nuclear installations by foreign guests,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.