Turkey’s Tentative Iranian Spring
Although Iran is not expected to change its Syria policy, working with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may help ease regional tensions.
Turkey and Iran, which have somehow managed their relations for at least 300 years without ever giving up their “controlled tension” approaches, are for the first time on the same frequency with their common reactions to the coup in Egypt against deposed President Mohammed Morsi.
Currently, Turkey-Iran tensions are the worst seen in recent years due to Turkey reducing its oil imports from Iran by 40% in the framework of US sanctions; the NATO radar shield deployed at Malatya-Kurecik and the Syria crisis.
Now, Ankara hopes that with new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in charge, there may be a new page in bilateral relations. The presence of 55 countries, 11 of them from the head-of-state level, at Rouhani’s oath-taking ceremony in Tehran showed that Turkey is not alone in opening a new line of credit to Iran.
Nevertheless, the Ankara-Tehran cold war prompted Turkey to respond to the inauguration invitation at the level of foreign minister. The absence of Turkey's head of state was perceived as a message from the Turkish government. Although sources speaking to Al-Monitor insisted, “We don’t agree with the views that it was a low-level representation. Previously, Turkey used to send its ambassador,” they did not note this was the first time Iran had invited foreign countries to the inauguration.
