We follow with concern that the problem has not been resolved yet regarding the 15 British sailors, who were taken into custody by Iran in the Persian Gulf on the grounds that they had violated the Iranian territorial waters. Turkey continues its friendly and constructive contacts with the Iranian and British authorities so that this problem is solved without causing a new escalation.

Turkey sincerely wishes that, without creating an additional tension to the already existing problems in the Middle East, this problem, too, is resolved as soon as possible in an atmosphere in which goodwill and internationally established practices prevail.