Japan's former PM regrets recommending nuclear energy to Turkey

Photo: Japan Times

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Naoto Kan, who was Japan's prime minister at the time of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, has said that he regrets "strongly recommending" nuclear energy to Turkey.

Responding to a question by a BBC Turkish service reporter at a press conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, he said that he had come to Turkey before the Fukushima explosion and attended "major sales meetings."

"I asked Turkish officials to buy the technology from Japan if they were thinking about bringing nuclear energy to Turkey," he said. "I am ashamed of this now. I wouldn't do that today."

Naoto Kan resigned as the PM of Japan in September 2011.

In 2013, Turkey agreed with the government of Japan, led by PM Shinzo Abe at the time, for a nuclear plant project in the northern province of Sinop.

The project had stopped after a feasibility study by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Ahead of a visit to Japan in 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said they had faced a situation not in line with the agreement at the beginning and the project had been halted. (PT/VK)