Fidan says Iran president set to visit Türkiye soon

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is set to visit Türkiye soon, marking the eighth meeting of the high-level cooperation council between the two nations.

During his address at the parliament's budget talks on Dec. 21, Fidan did not provide an exact date for Raisi's visit but touched on Türkiye's relations with Iran.

He recalled the first foreign ministerial-level meeting of the South Caucasus Regional Cooperation Platform in Tehran. Alongside host Iran, the summit on Oct. 23 was also attended by Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia.

Fidan revealed that the next meeting of this platform is scheduled to take place in Türkiye in 2024.

Raisi failed to appear at a summit in the capital Ankara on Nov. 28, an event that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously announced during his return flight from a summit among regional leaders in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Nov. 11, where Raisi was also in attendance. Tehran itself never officially confirmed the visit.

The Turkish presidency has not clarified whether the visit has been canceled or postponed. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Raisi's visit had been "postponed," offering no explanation.

The two presidents and the countries' top diplomats had phone conversations last week focused on the ongoing war in Gaza.

In his address at the parliament, Fidan reiterated Türkiye's diplomatic initiatives for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, highlighting the creation of the "contact group" during a joint summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia in November.

The group has conducted talks with five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and other influential countries in recent weeks.

Fidan attributed the support garnered for a draft resolution on an emergent humanitarian ceasefire at the U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 12 to these diplomatic endeavors as it received support from 27 countries that had abstained from voting on Oct. 26.