Bahram Ghasemi told reporters on Saturday Foreign Minister Zarif had been welcomed lavishly by Turkish officials upon arriving in Ankara; “we believe the visit will prove constructive for both nations under current circumstances”, he added. Turkey will do everything needed for cooperation with Russian Federation on the Syrian issue, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik told Haberturk TV on Friday.
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Despite the ongoing gas dispute between Tehran and Ankara, Iran has turned into the second largest exporter of gas to Turkey, Mehr reports.
“A decision was made at the talks that our countries create a basis for a joint work on the issues related to Syria. All of the countries in the region must cooperate to bring peace in Syria and fighting against extremism”, Zarif said.
Turkish President has come under harsh criticism from the global community for using the failed coup attempt in mid-July as a pretext to purge his political opponents and dissenting voices at all levels of Turkish public life, but it appears he is also set his eyes on young after entertainers too.
The Iranian official also expressed support to Turkey over last month’s failed coup attempt, praising the Turkish people for defying the “overthrow and use of force”.
Turkey has complained about a lack of support from its Western allies over the attempted coup.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.
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Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Ankara, said that some were “analysing that this meeting and rapprochment … as a message to the West, as some sort of political leverage”, after the coup attempt.
