Turkey and France have agreed to resume talks on civilian nuclear energy at a time Ankara plans to build three plants within the next five years, French Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq said Wednesday.
Turkey
and
France have agreed to resume talks on civilian nuclear energy at a time
Ankara
plans
to build three plants within the next five years, French Foreign Trade Minister
Nicole Bricq said Wednesday.
"We met the (energy) minister to discuss
Turkey
's
important projects in nuclear facilities," said Bricq after a meeting with
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz. "
France
claims
excellence in this field...so it is only natural that we have these
discussions."
She said: "We want
Turkey
to be
equipped with the best and most secure technology and we can do it."
Yildiz said that
Turkey
was
aware of French nuclear technology and a series of talks would be held to
develop cooperation, which had stalled amid chilly ties between the nations.
"Some important issues such as nuclear cannot be developed independently
of international issues," Yildiz said.
For the last 10 years, diplomatic relations between Paris and Ankara have
experienced several crises, fuelled in particular by a French bill
criminalising denial of genocide in Armenian, vehemently denied by Ankara.
The tensions hit the interests of the French businesses in
Turkey
,
particularly in obtaining big state contracts.
Tuesday, Bricq said that her first visit to
Turkey
on
behalf of the government was a "political signal" from the new French
President Francois Hollande to develop closer ties, after strained relations
between his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy and
Turkey
.
Atmea, a joint venture owned by the French nuclear power group Areva SA
(AREVA.FR) and
Japan
's
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.TO), has recently signalled its intention to
bid to build the third plant.
Turkey
is
planning to build three nuclear power plants in the next five years to reduce
its dependence on foreign energy sources.
It struck the first deal with
Russia
in
2010 to build the first power plant at Akkuyu in the southern
Mersin
province.
China
,
Japan
,
South
Korea
and
Canada
are
competing to win the Turkish tender for the second plant, to be built near the
Black
Sea
city of
Sinop
.
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