Turkish president has said nuclear negotiations in Istanbul between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were important despite the talks failed to produce any tangible results, Anadolu Agency reported.
"The meeting held in Istanbul last week was very important. Turkey has managed to bring Iran the United States around the same table, an achievement which I believe was unthinkable a month ago," Abdullah Gul told Turkish reporters covering his visit to Strasbourg.
The Turkish president addressed in Strasbourg the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) earlier on Tuesday.
"My country will exert more efforts with an eye to secure that the negotiations continue and that they yield concrete results," Gul said despite what he described as "attempts to downplay initiatives coming from Turkey."
Separately, Gul said Turkey was one of the founding members of the Council of Europe, adding that PACE was headed by a Turkish lawmaker and the country was at the rotating helm of the Council's decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers.
"We are leading the transformation process of Europe. That does improve our strength and value in Europe," Gul said.