Turkish Prime Minister’s Upcoming Visit to Iran Confirmed
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian minister confirmed that Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will certainly pay an official visit to Iran, saying the visit will take place late in January or early February.
According to Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi, the Turkish premier plans to visit Iran in late January or early February.
Earlier on January 4, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu had announced in a joint press conference in Istanbul that Erdogan plans to pay a visit to Iran later in January to meet high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani.
Erdogan’s forthcoming trip is believed to be a contributing factor in enhancement of bilateral ties between Tehran and Ankara, as his visit will be likely reciprocated by an official visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
“When Rouhani became the Iranian president, Turkey and Iran decided to communicate frequently, if possible every month, to discuss our mutual agendas and exchange views. I can say that we have accomplished this in the past five months,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said earlier this month.
Earlier in November 2013, Turkish President Abdullah Gul invited his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to pay an official visit to Turkey.
The invitation was made as Foreign Minister Zarif met with the Turkish president in Istanbul on November 1.
Iran, which owns the world’s largest natural gas reserves, is Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia. Turkey uses a significant portion of its imported Iranian natural gas to generate electricity.
The volume of Iran-Turkey annual trade exchanges reached roughly USD16 billion in 2011, and soared past USD22 billion by the end of 2012.