Iran expects Turkey to sign ‘cooperation roadmap’ during Erdogan’s visit News

After meeting with his Turkish counterpart, the Iranian foreign minister says the roadmap will be aimed at fostering bilateral relations.

Tehran, Iran – Iran and Turkey will continue to hold high-level diplomatic talks on a “roadmap for long-term cooperation” to promote relations, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has announced.

“We hope to complete the roadmap for a future visit to Tehran [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, Turkey’s famous president, ”Amirabdollahian said on Monday at a press conference in Tehran, next to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, without announcing a specific date for the visit.

Since then it has been a high-level visit to Iran by a Turkish official President Ibrahim Raisi he began his first term about three months ago. It was also the first visit Amirabdollahian has received since he tested positive for COVID-19 in early November.

The Iranian foreign minister said he and Cavusoglu had discussed bilateral relations, the region – especially Afghanistan – and international relations.

As a “pragmatic” government, he said, Tehran and Ankara agreed to work together to remove barriers to trade, energy, the environment and consular relations, facilitating private sector trade.

“I would like to emphasize that the relations between the two countries are deep, historical and intimate, and in developing these ties, we will pay special attention to them,” added Amirabdollahian.

Cavusoglu began by expressing his sympathy for Sunday Earthquakes around Bandar Abbas in which one person was killed and dozens injured.

To emphasize that the talks went well, he quoted a poem by the famous poet Sohrab Sepehri, “Where is the friend’s house?” called.

“I have always seen a friend’s house in Tehran,” the foreign minister said.

About Afghanistan, Cavusoglu said the views of the two countries have a lot in common. Turkey is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the country ruled by the Taliban and believes that the formation of an inclusive government is the solution, he said.

“We are ready to cooperate in Afghanistan. But in addition to cooperation in our region, we would like to improve our international relations with Iran, and today’s meeting will accelerate the development of relations,” Cavusoglu said.

The foreign minister also touched on Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, and said Turkey welcomes that on November 29 participants will travel to Vienna to resume talks on its recovery.

Cavusoglu said the reinstatement of the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA), as the agreement is formally known, could help boost economic relations between the two countries as well as improve security in the region.

Cavusoglu said the unilateral U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran since 2018 by then-President Donald Trump have left the deal “cruel,” and said the U.S. should return to the agreement and remove the sanctions.