Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will arrive in Iran today to hold talks with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The positions of Ankara and Tehran are polarized due to the worsening of the armed conflict in Yemen, since the states indirectly support the warring parties. Erdogan himself has repeatedly criticized Iran's behavior, directly calling on it to "change its view and to withdraw any forces, whatever it has in Yemen, as well as Syria and Iraq and respect their territorial integrity." Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in his turn, condemned Ankara's support for Saudi Arabia's bombing of civilians in Yemen.
Despite the exchange of political statements and diplomatic notes, the two countries continue to characterize each other as strategic partners. "The strategic approach of Iran to the Middle East region and its ties with neighbors is based on peace, stability and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect. The cooperation between Iran and Turkey has the necessary potential to achieve this goal," Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, said.
It is expected that the presidents will discuss discounts on Iranian gas supplied to Turkey. "We hope that Iran will offer Turkey a more reasonable price for gas. This will be on the agenda of the Turkish president's visit to Tehran," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.
A senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vladimir Sazhin, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the Turkish President will discuss Islamic State, issues of Syria, Iraq, and Kurdish questions with the Iranian leadership.He also did not rule out that the question of the development of cooperation between the two countries after the upcoming lifting of sanctions against Iran will be raised. The arrangements made in Lausanne, in his opinion, might also be mentioned during the negotiations. "I do not think that Turkey will be particularly strongly opposed to it, in contrast to Israel and other countries, including the United States, I mean opposition to Barack Obama, and Saudi Arabia in particular," the expert said, adding that it is unlikely that "it will have a major impact on future relations."Sazhin noted that the approaches of Ankara and Tehran to many problems differ. "Political relations in recent years, because of Syria and Islamic State, have deteriorated. And probably the leaders will discuss these issues, because these are two countries that are candidates for regional leadership. Turkey and Iran are two powerful countries in the region, and, of course, their interests can cross. And I think these issues will also be discussed to avoid major conflicts," Sazhin concluded.
A senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vladimir Sazhin, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the Turkish President will discuss Islamic State, issues of Syria, Iraq, and Kurdish questions with the Iranian leadership.
He also did not rule out that the question of the development of cooperation between the two countries after the upcoming lifting of sanctions against Iran will be raised. The arrangements made in Lausanne, in his opinion, might also be mentioned during the negotiations. "I do not think that Turkey will be particularly strongly opposed to it, in contrast to Israel and other countries, including the United States, I mean opposition to Barack Obama, and Saudi Arabia in particular," the expert said, adding that it is unlikely that "it will have a major impact on future relations."
Sazhin noted that the approaches of Ankara and Tehran to many problems differ. "Political relations in recent years, because of Syria and Islamic State, have deteriorated. And probably the leaders will discuss these issues, because these are two countries that are candidates for regional leadership. Turkey and Iran are two powerful countries in the region, and, of course, their interests can cross. And I think these issues will also be discussed to avoid major conflicts," Sazhin concluded.
Hassan Selim Ozertem, an analyst of the USAK research center, said that "so far during high-level visits of Turkish officials to Iran, bilateral trade relations were in the spotlight during all negotiations." "Of course, Turkey is interested in the question of lifting the sanctions against Iran, and it tries to understand how to interact in the situation and what benefits it can get," the expert said.
According to him, the sanctions against Iran affect Turkey too. "A lot of oil and gas projects are still hanging in the air. The sanctions also affect the export of food products. And Erdogan's visit should be viewed as an attempt to gradually build a new relationship with Iran after the lifting of sanctions," the representative the USAK research center said.
"There are two interesting questions. First, increasing exports of products in Iran, secondly, issues of bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas industry. Today, the two countries have agreed on the construction of a pipeline of 30 billion cubic meters. And there are many questions about how the project will be implemented and how the output of Iranian gas to the European market will be implemented," Ozertem said.
"The trade turnover between the two countries has increased through the imports of oil from Iran. And I think that during the visit the parties will raise this issue again," Hasan Selim Ozertem added.
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