Iran and Turkey agree on designing 'cooperation roadmap'; vow to strengthen bilateral ties

Iranian foreign minister and his visiting Turkish counterpart, on Monday, agreed on designing a long-term “co-operation roadmap” and vowed to further strengthen their comprehensive ties. Addressing a joint press conference in Tehran, Amir Abdollahian lauded the “friendly and sincere” relationship between both countries and said that albeit there were some obstacles in their relations, both the countries have managed to maintain ties. His remarks came days ahead of a scheduled visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Islamic Republic, reported Xinhua.

As per the Iranian lawmaker, both the leaders paid “special attention” to facilitating transit traffic and consular issues during their meeting. While Abdollahian reckoned that they did not see any “serious obstacles” in bolstering the cooperation, he still expressed a strong need to develop joint mechanisms. Notably, he also told the reporters that Ankara and Tehran agree on a variety of mutual issues including security in Afghanistan and West Asia.  

"Facilitating trade and investment and developing economic cooperation is of great importance in relations between the two countries," Abdollahian was quoted as saying by Iranian Foreign Ministry. The foreign minister also," underlined the need for the two countries to work towards protecting the environment and managing common water resources." 

Cavuşoglu encourages investors and companies

Cavuşoglu welcomed the views of his Iranian counterpart and said that Ankara has always opposed "illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran." It is imperative to note here that multiple western powers, led by the US, have imposed embargoes on Iran pushing the country into an economic crisis. On Monday, Cavuşoglu encouraged Turkish investors and companies to "cooperate with Iran and call for paving the way for bilateral cooperation in this regard”.

"Amir Abdollahian and Çavuşoglu also held talks over other topics including parliamentary and media co-operation, joint efforts to resolve consular and judicial problems, ways of facilitating the two countries' diplomatic missions, and also the fight against drug trafficking, illegal immigration and terrorism," according to a press release. 

Image: AP