Turkish FM criticizes Tehran on Syria remarks

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish Foreign Minister has slammed an Iranian official who criticized Turkey’s position on Syrian crisis, warning that relations between Turkey and Iran should not be used in Iran’s domestic political concerns.

“We often see in Europe that domestic politics are used for foreign affairs, which has always disappointed us. We find it odd that foreign affairs are being made domestic matters in Iran. We hope it will not repeat,” Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters at a press conference yesterday. “Nobody will benefit from stirring up different opinions in Iran as a matter of Turkish–Iranian relations.”

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Iranian Chairman of the Shura Council, Ali Larijani, said on April 3 that last week’s “Friends of Syria” meeting was “in fact a conference for those bought by Israel and not for Syria’s friends.”

Recalling that Turkey and Iran had rooted historical relations, Davutoğlu said Larijani’s statements were not compatible with Iran and Turkey’s rooted bilateral relations. He said that Turkish leaders had recently made successful visits to Iran: “These remarks are not compatible with the respect Iranians showed to the Turkish Prime Minister during his visit.”

“Today we summoned the Iranian ambassador in Ankara and asked for explanation,” Davutoğlu added.

Reacting to Larijani’s remarks that the “Istanbul conference was for those bought by Israel,” Davutoğlu said that Turkey determined its own policies.

“We did this in 2010 on the issue of the embargo imposed against Iran … We act with our conscience and impartial will on Syria, as we acted when voting against sanctions on Iranian at the UN,” he said.
“We dismiss making any analogy with Israel,” he said, recalling Turkey’s strong stance on Palestinian issue.