Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif expressed support to Turkish government over last month’s abortive coup.
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At a joint news conference Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said the two neighboring nations also meant to boost trade ties.
“Turkey and Iran support Syria’s territorial integrity”, the Iranian FM said.
After the coup, Iran and Turkey turned on a new page in diplomatic relations, culminated in Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s August 12 visit to Ankara where the sides reaffirmed their friendship.
Tehran and Moscow are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main allies in the civil war, putting them at loggerheads with Turkey, which insists Assad must leave for there to be peace in Syria. Efforts are made to further enhance the political dialogue both on bilateral and regional issues, through reciprocal visits and mechanisms such as High Level Cooperation Council and joint commissions in different sectors.
Turkey says it wants to increase the volume of natural gas it is now purchasing from Iran in what could be a serious sign from Ankara that it wants to enhance economic ties with the Islamic Republic.
Cavusoglu also said the US was cooperating with Turkey on the issue of Fetullah Gulen, the USA -based preacher Turkey accuses of plotting the July 15 coup attempt.
Zarif spoke about Iran’s interest in increasing supplies of natural gas and electricity to Turkey.
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A Turkish delegation held talks in Russia on Thursday aiming at coordination on Syria and other bilateral issues following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane a year ago.
