Turkey holds talks with Iraqi, Iranian leaders

Turkey's prime minister met with one of Iraq's two vice presidents about regional stability on Tuesday, just hours after holding talks with Iran's foreign minister. The discussions with Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi focused on the spiraling violence in neighboring Iraq, as well as cross-border attacks by separatist Kurdish guerrillas on Turkey. No statement was issued after the talks. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, telling him that Turkey would work for a diplomatic solution to the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program, according to state-run Anatolia news agency. Mottaki in turn insisted that Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, the agency said, citing sources close to Erdogan. Later in the day, Mottaki met with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, but no official statements were issued after either of Mottaki's meetings.