Iranian Visit to Turkey Raises Question: Are Ties Growing Closer?

Iran's FM visited Turkey and sees opportunity together in the future. Illustrative official meeting. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Iran’s FM visited Turkey and sees opportunity together in the future. Illustrative official meeting. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Turkey and Iran have had a longstanding disagreement over how to handle Syria, but after a visit last week by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the top Iranian diplomat sees more opportunities to work together in the future. “Proud to stand with brave brothers & sisters in #Turkey in support of democracy. More cooperation for peace is ahead,” Tweeted Zarif on Sunday.

And the choice of terms Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu used to describe his relationship with the Iranian during the recent visit also stood out. On Twitter, Cavusoglu called Zarif “my friend” when introducing him on the social media platform.

An article by the Fars News Agency on the Zarif visit to Turkey reported that the Iranian Foreign Minister said that there are still disagreements that need to be addressed. Nonetheless, Fars said that Zarif called for more cooperation on fighting terrorism and included Russia along with Turkey in saying that the three nations “need to engage in dialogue and cooperation.”

(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, August 14, 2016)

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