Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkish diplomatic sources close to the behind-doors meeting cited Davutoglu as conveying Salehi Turkey's reactions over remarks by senior Iranian officials on Turkey's policy regarding the Syrian crisis.
Sources cited Davutoglu as telling his Iranian counterpart that no one could characterize Turkey as being responsible for developments in Syria and that such remarks could not be accepted.
Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi warned Turkey on Monday that "it will be its turn" if it continues to "help advance the warmongering policies of the United States in Syria." He was also quoted by the Iranian media as saying, "Al-Saud, Qatar, and Turkey are responsible for the blood being shed on Syrian soil."
Sources said the two ministers agreed that the situation in Syria had become grave and that the bloodshed must stop urgently.
According to the sources, Salehi reiterated Iran's request for Turkey's help for the safe release of 48 Iranian pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria as Davutoglu had pledged that Turkey would do everything in its power on humanitarian concerns.
Davutoglu and Salehi also discussed developments in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Somalia and Myanmar as well as Iran's nuclear program.