Iranian, Turkish Economies Complementary: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Ambassador to Turkey described the two country’s economies as complementary, stressing that Tehran attaches importance to ties with Ankara in different fields, including economy and trade.
Speaking to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian said developing relations with neighbors is high on Iran’s agenda, stressing that Turkey, among other neighbors, has a special place for the Islamic Republic.
He noted that experts in economic and commercial fields believe that the economies of Iran and Turkey complement one another, adding that there are many grounds for bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two sides.
No efforts will be spared to reach the target of $30 billion bilateral trade that the Iranian and Turkish presidents have set, Taherian stressed.
Elsewhere, the Iranian envoy hailed the defeat of last month’s coup in Turkey as signifying the power of nations to defend their democracy.
He noted that Iran stood by the Turkish people and government and that officials from the two countries were in contact since the early minutes of the coup.
Last week, Turkish ambassador to Tehran Reza Hakan Tekin hailed Iran’s stance against the attempted coup in Turkey, saying no other government acted like Iran’s in the process of the putsch.
He said in a recent interview with Tasnim that Ankara is pleased with Iran’s official stance in the early hours of the coup.
“Iranian officials, including the president and parliament speaker as well as the Iranian nation stood by the Turkish government and nation (during the coup),” he stated.
Since the outset of the coup attempt by a group of military forces in Turkey in the early hours of July 16, Iran voiced its backing for the government of President Erdogan and dismissed any military approach to settling conflicts.
The botched putsch began late on July 15, when a faction of the Turkish military blocked Istanbul’s iconic Bosphorus Bridge and strafed the headquarters of the Turkish intelligence agency and parliament in the capital.
Tanks, helicopters and soldiers clashed with police and people on the streets of the two main cities.
The Turkish president rushed back to Istanbul from a Mediterranean holiday and called on people to defy the coup plotters’ orders of a curfew and stage a rally in support of his government.
More than 300 people were killed from both sides before the coup was officially declared as a failure.
