Turkey is adamantly opposed to naming Iran as the source of threat to be targeted by the future NATO missile defense in Europe, Turkish President Abdullah Gul has made clear.

"NATO is a program that aims at defense. A defense system is developed for everybody whoever has ballistic missile, apart from NATO members. Thus, categorically, it is wrong to say it is Iran. Any country will not be the target. We will definitely not accept it," Gul told the BBC Turkish Service on Monday.

His statement reiterates earlier exports that Turkey would agree to become part of the US/NATO missile defense in Europe but only on the condition that its neighbor and fellow Muslim country is not explicitly mentioned as the source of a threat; the statement comes just two weeks before the much anticipated NATO Summit in Lisbon, which will decide whether the Alliance will adopt the US project for a missile shield in Europe, and where exactly land-based elements of the system will be stationed.

Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania have all been mentioned as possible sites for elements of the shield under the plan of the Obama Administration which replaced the plan of the Bush Administration for basing the shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Gul said Iran was neighbor of Turkey, and they would continue to encourage commercial and cultural relations between the two countries. He said sanctions did not bring any benefit, and peaceful solutions should be found on Iran's nuclear program, as cited by The Journal of Turkish Weekly.

Gul's interview for the BBC Turkish Service on the NATO missile shield in Europe came right before he received the Chatham House prize that is given to a statesman who made the highest contributions to international relations in London on Monday.

Gul has been voted the winner of the Chatham House Prize 2010 for being a significant figure for reconciliation and moderation within Turkey and internationally, and a driving force behind many of the positive steps that Turkey has taken in recent years. Chatham House is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs