Iran, Turkey focus on improvement of economic ties
By Sara Rajabova
The two powerful and neighboring countries in the Middle East, Turkey and Iran discussed bilateral relations as well as regional issues.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid his first official visit to Turkey as president and held talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara on June 9.
Turkish President Gul said after the meeting that cooperation between Iran and Turkey will contribute to the development of the entire region, Turkish media reported.
Gul said the Iranian president's visit to Turkey is historical, and it will even further strengthen relations between Ankara and Tehran.
He underscored that Iran with its economic potential is a very important neighbor for Turkey.
Gul said his meeting with Rouhani and discussion of economic and regional issues show the high level of bilateral relations between Iran and Turkey.
Rouhani, in turn, said Iran and Turkey have agreed to improve their economic ties, noting that the two neighboring countries want to double their bilateral trade.
"We agreed to join our borders via a railway," he said, explaining that such a move will "connect the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the Black Sea".
Rouhani said, the private sectors of both countries also want to boost their cooperation.
"Ties between our education centers and universities should also be expanded," he said.
On nuclear issue, Rouhani went on to note that the two countries have a similar stance in regards to nuclear programs.
"We both believe that any country who signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) can develop a peaceful nuclear program," he said.
"Our region should be free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destructions (WMD)," he added.
Ahead of his departure for Ankara, Rouhani said security concerns and trade opportunities, especially in the energy sector, will be at the heart of the talks with Turkish officials.
Ministers from both countries are also expected to hold joint meetings during the visit.
Rouhani's visit to Turkey comes after the presidential election in Syria, which resulted in the victory of Iranian-backed incumbent President Bashar Assad.
Despite the two countries statements that they have one religion and enjoy historical relations, they don't share the same point of view over some regional issues.
Iran and Turkey are at odds over Syria, with Iran being a strong strategic ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the uprising against him, while Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting his opponents.
However, after coming to power, moderate Rouhani have started to re-establish Iran's relations with the world community, especially with the neighboring countries.
Energy exporter Iran and energy dependant Turkey are interested in boosting economic relations.
During Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iran in January, a preferential trade agreement was signed aimed at paving the ground to boost trade to $30 billion by 2015.
Iranian officials say trade between the countries stood at $22 billion (16.2 billion euros) in 2012, before dipping to $20 billion in 2013, and that it should reach $30 billion in 2015.
Iran was Turkey's third largest export market in 2012. In fact, Iranian media said, Turkey exports more than 20,000 products to Iran, among them gold and silver.