Turkey, Iran to pursue cooperation, enhance relations

TEHRAN – Anadolu Agency

Turkey and Iran on April 29 underlined intention to bolster bilateral relations and expand cooperation in the field of transportation.

“Turkey is Iran's gateway to Europe and Iran is Turkey's gateway to Asia, especially to Central Asia,” Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Cahit Turhan told a joint news conference following talks with Mohammad Eslami, the Iranian minister of road and urban development, in the capital Tehran.

He said talks between Turkish and Iranian delegations tackled new transport routes.

Underlining deep historical and cultural ties between Turkey and Iran, Turhan said that bilateral relations between Ankara and Tehran were expanding day by day as part of established bilateral and regional mechanisms.

The Turkish official stressed that cooperation between Turkey and Iran will contribute significantly to the prosperity and well-being of the region.

Turhan arrived in the Iranian capital on April 29 to attend the eight meeting of the Joint Transport Commission between Turkey and Iran.

He said the leaders of Turkey and Iran have ordered an expansion of relations between the two countries during the Turkish-Iranian High-Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) meeting, held four months ago in Ankara.

“Under the framework of our duties, we pursue joint interests as well as mutual cooperation and confidence,” Turhan said.

Following the meeting, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of transportation.

Turhan also said that the improved transportation cooperation will also serve to reach the targeted $30 billion trade volume.

Eslami, for his part, said: “We appreciate the principled stance of Turkey over the unilateral sanctions of the U.S. [on Iran] and its blacklisting of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.”

On May 22, the Trump administration announced that it will no longer renew Iran sanctions' waivers on eight countries - Turkey, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan - upon their expiration on May 2.

On April 8, the U.S. administration designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a "foreign terrorist group", in a move that marked the first time a government agency has been blacklisted as a terrorist body.