Turkish President to visit Tehran in January

Mohammad Javad Zarif pointed to the extensive ties between Iran and Turkey; “the meetings between high-ranking officials of both countries sought some important objectives in political and economic issues as well as developments in the region. Reaching a $30bn trade balance as well as forming a joint supreme council headed by both presidents is an indication of Tehran-Ankara good relations,” Zarif told the press.

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Iran in January for the second meeting of the joint supreme council,” added Zarif, noting Rouhani’s previous visit to Ankara for the first meeting.

“There are some small issues in our bilateral ties which can easily be resolved with cooperation,” asserted Zarif, expressing hope for a settlement on Turkish and Iranian truck traffic on both sides of the border.

Commenting on developments in the region, Zarif said that “Iran and Turkey see eye to eye on most developments; despite some certain differences, we need to bring closer our views in the face of a common enemy and prevent the terrorists from entering Iraq and Turkey.”

“Neither Iran nor Turkey do wish to see the Syrian people fall victim to terrorism; what we wish are, for Syria, stability and the right to decide for its own future without any outside interference,” emphasized Zarif.

Zarif also touched upon the nuclear issue; “our negotiations with 5+1 is under way. We have diplomatic relations with all these countries except for the US; and the long absence of diplomatic relations restricts us only to nuclear issue and only secondary to 5+1 talks,” said the FM.

“All countries in general and the six states in particular, have come to this conclusion that the only viable approach to negotiations is through recognizing the rights of the Iranian people. Sanctions have been of no good and will only make Iran’s resolution stronger,” asserted Zarif.

Zarif also noted that certain good steps had been taken toward reaching an agreement, and the next positive steps were to follow.“The world needs this agreement,” stressed Zarif, “and other issues such as the threat of terrorism must be given more weight.”

Elsewhere during the press conference, Zarif expressed gratitude for Turkey’s support of Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy, while stressing on both countries’ strong disapproval of any use of nuclear weapons. “Turkey has hosted Iran’s nuclear negotiations on several occasions in the past; if the trilateral agreement by Iran, Turkey and Brazil had been then ratified [by international community], there would have been no need to prolong this issue for so long.”

“Turkey can set an example for all neighboring countries to follow its lead in its belief that a solution to Iran’s nuclear program benefits everyone in the region,” he added.

Zarif also commented on Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi officials’ presence in Iran over the next few weeks and whether they may exchange views on regional issues; “we all seek restoring stability to the region; I cannot yet claim that there is a quadrilateral meeting among these countries but we do hope that all countries will cooperate for peace and security in the Middle East.”

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, for his part, expressed his country’s willingness to improve bilateral relations with Iran and hoped to have longer stays in Tehran in his next visits.

On Iran’s nuclear issue, he maintained that Turkey had always been on Iran’s side; “we attach great importance to Iran-Turkey relations, and have always supported the negotiations and Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology. Hopefully, the talks will come into fruition,” he added.

As to the claims on Turkey’s support of the terrorist group ISIL, he said that “all these allegations serve a political purpose. Long before many countries noticed ISIL, Turkey had put them on its list of terrorist groups on Oct. 10, 2013.”

“Furthermore, Turkey blocked routes used for sending out financial aid to the terrorist groups. Even at the time our consulate staff had been taken hostage by ISIL, Turkey had openly presented certain counterterrorism plans against the group,” concluded Çavuşoğlu.