Ankara and Tehran should lead the way to ending violence in Iraq, Syria and the region, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 16 during a press meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined the role of trans-regional and regional dialogue mechanisms led by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) intended to promote regional peace and prosperity.
Rouhani had arrived in Ankara on April 16 and met with Erdoğan at the Presidential Palace.
Erdogan said that strengthening political dialogue between two countries and minimizing differences of opinion are in favor of both Turkey and Iran.
“We should work together for tackling the problem of sectarianism and terrorism that have occurred in our region,” Erdoğan said.
During the press conference Rouhani also touched on the importance of two countries’ political dialogue.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoglu, Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak and Ankara governor Mehmet Kılıçdar also attended the meeting.
Rouhani came to Turkey to attend the recent OIC summit in Istanbul. According to a final OIC declaration, participants criticized Iran’s “interference” in the internal affairs of regional and member states including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Somalia, and its “continued support for terrorism.
