Turkey shifts toward Iran on Syria
Turkey is resetting its relations with Iran, including over Syria.
TEHRAN, Iran — What’s going on between Iran and Turkey? Questions are being raised by allies before enemies. The two neighboring, former Islamic empires were thought to be parting with many of their differences over the Syrian crisis, which both regard as a foreign policy priority. Day after day there are indications that Ankara and Iran are heading slowly but surely toward strategic relations, which could result in the countries signing what a source in Tehran described as a “strategic cooperation treaty.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in Tehran within two weeks. Meanwhile, both countries’ foreign ministers exchanged visits within a short time period; Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Turkey on Jan. 4, while Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in Tehran a week earlier. As these words are written, Iranian Undersecretary for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdulahyan is in Ankara to meet his counterpart. These meetings reflect a high level of coordination between Iran and Turkey. Yet some will ask, what about their differences over Syria?
