Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 7
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that the Islamic Republic and Turkey share joint viewpoints about the ongoing crisis in Yemen.
Rouhani made the remarks during a joint press conference with visiting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 7 in Tehran, broadcasted live by the state-run IRINN TV.
"We both believe that a ceasefire should be established in Yemen as soon as possible and foreign countries should stop their attacks," Rouhani said.
Iranian president further said that Iran and Turkey with cooperation of other countries can help establishing peace, security and formation of an inclusive government in Yemen.
Rouhani went on to add that alongside with the Yemen crisis the two parties also talked over latest regional developments in particular in Iraq, Syria and Palestine.
Iran and Turkey are already clashing over a number of political issues. The Tehran-Ankara disagreement is more noticeable in Syria where, while Tehran supports President Bashar Assad, Ankara backs some of the opposition groups fighting Damascus.
The issue of cooperation in energy, transport, transit, trade and facilitating the grounds for investment of the two countries' private sectors as well as conducting joint investments in third countries also discussed in the meeting, Rouhani said.
He also added that Iran and Turkey have agreed to cooperate in security issues such as fighting terrorism on common borders.
The Iranian president further expressed hope that the value of trade turnover between the two countries to reach $30 billion from the current level of $14 billion.
Turkey's President arrived in Tehran today, heading a high-ranking delegation which includes a number of Turkish ministers.
Iran and Turkey have signed a preferential trade agreement that could pave the way for a hike in bilateral trade. The two countries' trade turnover stood at $13.7 billion in 2014, according to the data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute.
The trade turnover between Turkey and Iran stood at $22 billion in 2012 before dipping to $14.5 billion in the following year due to the economic sanctions imposed on Tehran by the West.
The two sides are determined not to allow the political tensions to affect the economic goals.
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