Iran concentrates on boosting economic ties with Turkey

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

AA photo

Iran aims to reach a $30 billion trade target with Turkey, marking the country’s desire to engage more with Turkish markets, said Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on March 19 during an official visit to Turkey. 

“God permitting, we will increase the two countries’ trade volume to $30 billion,” said Zarif during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on March 19 in Istanbul. 

Zarif said Iran sees Turkey as a partner in every aspect and is focusing its efforts on enhancing cooperation through increasing the trade volume between the two countries. 

Zarif also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during his one-day visit to Istanbul. 

He said their talks had consisted of discussions about joint investments on energy, oil and natural gas, tourism, and transportation via railways and highways. 

“We have talked and discussed about easing the journey of the two countries’ investors,” Zarif said, adding that the discussions on joint projects would continue in the coming weeks. 

“These topics will be discussed once again within the framework of the [Turkish-Iranian] Joint Economic Commission [KEK] meeting in the forthcoming week. God permitting, these meetings will reach an end at the 3rd Turkish-Iranian High-Level Cooperation Council in the presence of our presidents,” he said. 

Zarif’s meeting comes around two weeks after Davutoğlu visited Tehran to hold meetings with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Vice-President Eshagh Jahangiri.

Zarif said Iran values the relationship between Turkey and his country.

“Turkey has always supported Iran, especially during the days of sanctions,” he said. 

Commenting on the situation in Syria, Zarif said Syria’s national unity and territorial integrity had to be respected. 

“We strongly believe that as neighbors of Syria, Iran and Turkey can work together to bring peace to Syria. We are ready to help people in Syria to decide about their country’s fate,” Zarif was quoted as saying by Associated Press.