|
Turkey working to halt Hizbullah arms flow: US |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by NTV-MSNBC
|
|
Saturday, 19 August 2006 02:54 |
|
Turkey is doing what is necessary to block the transfer of arms from Iran to Hizbullah militants based in Lebanon, a US State Department spokesman said late Thursday. Commenting on claims from Israel that Hizbullah was receiving weaponry from Iran transferred through Turkey, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that Washington was aware of the reports and that the issue had been discussed between Turkish and US officials.
“My understanding is that the issue of potential arms shipments through Turkey and through other countries are things that we have talked about with the Turkish government,” he said. “I understand that they are very concerned about this issue as well and we’re fully convinced that they are taking and doing what would be necessary to prevent arms transfers from going through.”
Earlier Thursday, Turkish media ran a story saying that said two or more Iranian aircraft have been forced to land at a airport at the south eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir in recent weeks after Israeli officials informed the Turkish military that they were carrying arms for Hizbollah.
At a press conference later Thursday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan did not directly clarify whether or not the report was accurate. However, he said that Turkey always tried to act in conformity with international laws and regulations. “There have not been any measures taken in violation of international laws,” he said. “The procedure taken by Turkey is a routine one that was well known by Iran.
|