Iran summons Turkish envoy over Prez Erdogan's poem which allegedly flared ‘separatism’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Turkey’s ambassador over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s controversial remarks made during his visit to Azerbaijan, which according to the Iranian regime, flared ‘separatism’ among Azeri communities. In his visit to the Azeri capital Baku, where he participated in Azerbaijan’s victory military parade, the Turkish president recited a19th century Azeri-Iranian poem calling the Iranian provinces of Azerbaijan part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Condemning Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recitation as “interventionist” and provocative, Iran summoned the Turkish envoy for an immediate explanation for their President’s comments. 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to the controversial poem, saying, that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “wrongly” hurled false claims, local Tehran Times reported. The chief Iranian diplomat also published a tweet, condemning the Turkish president as he wrote, “Pres. Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from the Iranian motherland. Didn't he realize that he was undermining the sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan?” He added, “No one can talk about our beloved Azerbaijan,” in a warning tone. In a separate Persian tweet, the Iranian minister said, “They didn’t tell Erdogan that the poem that he wrongly recited in Baku is related to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland.”  

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Aras ‘river of separation’

Zarif was referring to the strategic Kura-Aras River Basin Transboundary river systems that separated riparian nations Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran with Azerbaijan and Turkey. The key waterbody is a border between the Republic of Azerbaijan of the two ethnic-Azeri Turk majority of Iranian provinces, which, the Iranian Azerbaijan civilians called the ‘river of separation’ from the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the military parade where 3,000 Azeri troops marched, Azeri fighter jets held flyovers, the Turkish commando brigade was also seen participating and the Turkish drones put a military display. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for attending the parade, after which, the Turkish President delivered the controversial speech. 

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(Image Credit: AP)Azeri-Iranian