
Sunday, July 06, 2008

Relations with Iran

There were important developments in political and economic relations between Turkey and Iran in 2003. The situation against Turkey in trade between the two countries also continued this year.

Tehran administration which clearly opposed Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq during Iraq war staged some operations against PKK/KADEK, although the administration does not recognize it officially as a terrorist organization.

POLITICAL RELATIONS

Recovery in political relations between Turkey and Iran also continued this year. Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul visited Iran twice in 2003.

The main agenda item was crisis in Iraq, when Gul first paid a visit to this country as Prime Minister before Iraq war. Gul was received by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and said that if a war started in Iraq, it would bring negative developments to whole region and especially to Iraqi people.

Khatami and Gul said that Iraq crisis should be solved and called on Baghdad administration to comply with U.N. resolutions and stated that they supported territorial integrity of Iraq. They also said that Muslim countries' acting together would solve Iraq crisis peacefully.

Gul visited Iran for second time for the 30th meeting of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) after he became Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

IRAQ WAR, IRAN, TURKEY

Iran said clearly that ''it opposed Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq'' during and after the war.

Iranian administration supported regional meeting which was held with participation of foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria in Istanbul with initiative of Turkey in order to find a solution to Iraq crisis before the war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said that they welcomed Turkish parliament's disapproval of the motion allowing U.S. soldiers to use Turkish territories. Kharazi said that they had some concerns over the issue of Iraqi Kurds' gaining control of Kirkuk, but adding that they did not approve Turkish troops' entering north of Iraq. Kharazi paid a visit to Turkey during Iraq war and said that Turkey and Iran had some common interests in north of Iraq and future of the region during his meeting with Gul.

Concerning the parliament's giving the government authority to send soldiers to Iraq, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said that Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq should occur with the demand of Iraqi people and under the roof of the U.N. and stated that they considered that Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq would not contribute to settlement of stability and tranquility in Iraq. Asefi also stated that the government's giving up using the authority was ''a reasonable decision.''

SECURITY

When studies of the commission which was set up in security field between the two countries continued, Iran proposed that cooperation be made in energy field in return for recognizing PKK/KADEK as a terrorist organization. Responding to this proposal, Ankara said that it was not true to establish a link between these two issues.

Iran staged a series of operations against terrorist organization PKK/KADEK, although it does not officially recognize it as a terrorist organization. Iranian security forces staged an operation against PKK/KADEK which was in an effort to be politically organized under ''Iran Islam Democrat Party.'' A total of 31 security forces and 22 members of the organization were killed in the operation.
A member of PKK/KADEK was detained in Orumiyeh city of Iran and seven members of the terrorist organization was handed over to Turkish authorities.

Iranian officials said that three more police stations were set up on border between Turkey and Iran in order to increase fight against PKK/KADEK and defended that however, Ankara did not fight against opposition groups against Iranian regime in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Iranian administration condemned suicide bombings in Istanbul and announced that if Turkey submitted intelligence and document that some suspects of those attacks fled via Iran, they would examine the issue seriously.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS

State Minister Kursad Tuzmen paid a visit to Iran with an accompanying delegation comprised of nearly 300 Turkish businessmen. This visit was the most important indicator for development of economic and commercial relations between the two countries in 2003.

Tuzmen said that commercial relations between Turkey and Iran recorded great progress in recent years and stated that trade volume between the two countries which was 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 would reach nearly 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2003.

Iran committed that it would reduce all customs and taxes on Turkish goods to around 4 percent within five years as of 2004 during Tuzmen's visit. Some border trade centers were set up in some regions on border between Turkey and Iran.

Although there were some developments in economic relations, the situation against Turkey also continued in trade between the two countries due to natural gas and oil imported from Iran.

The price of natural gas was on the agenda in 2003 as it was in 2002. Iranian National Natural Gas company officials announced that they examined Turkey's proposal on decreasing price of natural gas in accordance with natural gas agreement which was signed by Turkey and Iran.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler had a meeting with Iranian Deputy Minister of Petroleum Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh who paid a visit to Turkey. Following the meeting, Guler said that Iran was interested in Petkim (petrochemicals) which would be privatized and stated that Iran's price of natural gas was important as natural gas would be used in this facility.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref opened new facilities at Gurbulak border gate. About 400 thousand Iranian tourists visited Turkey during tourism season in 2003.

MUTUAL VISITS

Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun also visited Iran in 2003. Aref, Kharazi, Asefi, Nematzadeh and some other Iranian officials paid official visits to Turkey in 2003.

CULTURE

Several activities concerning music, theater, cinema and exhibition were held in Tehran with contribution of Turkish Embassy in Tehran in 2003.

Erzurum State Theater performed a play named ''Tale Women'' in a festival in Tehran. Two musicians from Bilkent University Music and Scene Arts Faculty gave a concert.

Famous writer Orhan Pamuk whose books named ''White Castle'' (Beyaz Kale) and ''New Life'' (Yeni Hayat) were translated into Persian, met with his readers in Tehran International Book Fair.

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