Greece has urged its earthquake-prone neighbour Turkey to halt plans to build a nuclear power station amid the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.

Turkey is planning to building its first nuclear power station at Akkuyu, in the south of the country, under a deal signed last year with the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom

President Karolos Papoulias said on Friday that the European Union should intervene to prevent a “catastrophe on its doorstep.”

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s office said the premier also telephoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express opposition to the venture.