In August 2013, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended the oath of office in Tehran for newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan followed up with a visit in January 2014, trying to bridge Iranian and Turkish differences on Syria and to increase bilateral cooperation, particularly on economic and trade ties. On June 9, almost a year since his election, Rouhani made Iran's first official presidential visit to Ankara in 18 years.
This timeline coincides with the breakthrough between the United States and Iran, where the two sides’ delegations are holding bilateral talks in Geneva on June 9-10 to discuss the nuclear issue. It also comes after the May 15 meeting in London of the "Friends of Syria" where foreign ministers from several nations discussed ways to support Syria’s opposition. Diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor that Turkey continues to court for “action in Syria” — meaning either providing the opposition with “lethal weapons” or for a “foreign military intervention.”
