AP Interview: Gul backs Mideast nuclear-free zone

AP Interview: Gul backs Mideast nuclear-free zone Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Monday he will call for a Middle East totally free of nuclear weapons when 的 he addresses the U.N. General Assembly later this week.

"We would like to see our region free of nuclear weapons," Gul told The Associated Press in an interview. "The region should not be under such a threat." Gul said he intends to raise the issue when he addresses the world body on Thursday.

Gul has called in the past for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, but his latest comments come amid deteriorating relations with Israel following the May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Turkish vessel that was part of an aid flotilla attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and a Turkish-American were killed.

Israel is generally assumed to assembled a sizable arsenal of nuclear warheads since the 1960s, but declines to discuss its status as a nuclear power. Gul's remarks will likely antagonize the United States, because Washington sees any move to raise the issue of Israel's nuclear arsenal as potentially destabilizing at a time of renewed Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

Last week, the Obama administration warned Arab nations that they risk contributing to a failure of the Mideast talks if they continue to pressure Israel over its nuclear program. U.S. officials have asserted that it would be possible to have a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East even if Israel's arsenal remains intact.