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Different political positions hurt economic relations between Iran, Turkey – MPs

Politics Materials 7 August 2015 19:42 (UTC +04:00)
Great potential, which covered the areas of economy, politics and culture existed in various spheres for the development of cooperation between Turkey and Iran
Different political positions hurt economic relations between Iran, Turkey – MPs

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 7

By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:

Great potential, which covered the areas of economy, politics and culture existed in various spheres for the development of cooperation between Turkey and Iran, deputy chairman of the commission on national security and foreign policy of the Iranian parliament Mansour Haghighatpour told Trend Aug.7.

He made the remarks commenting on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's upcoming next week's visit to Turkey.

However, Turkey's policy in the region calls into question the prospects for cooperation, he said.

Iran is the closest ally of the Syrian government in the region, according to him. "Turkey is against the government of Bashar al-Assad," said the deputy chairman.

Haghighatpour said that Iran is interested in cooperation with Turkey.

He said that Turkey is among the largest trade partners of Iran. "Last year, Iran (Iranian calendar year begins March 21) carried out import from Turkey worth $3.822 billion," said the deputy chairman. "By the volume of products imported to Iran, Turkey occupies the fourth place. During this period, Iran's non-oil exports to Turkey reached $2.15 billion. At the same time, Iran daily exports to Turkey about 100,000 barrels of crude oil and 27 million cubic meters of gas."

"In addition, last year Turkey imported 2.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from Iran," he said. "In 2014, the trade turnover between Iran and Turkey reached $14 billion. In 2000, the figure was $1 billion, and officials of the two countries declared that in future years, it will reach $30-35 billion."

Member of the Iranian Parliamentary Commission of Industry and Mines Nader Ghazipour told Trend that Iran and Turkey are neighbors and must cooperate with each other.

He said that the policy pursued by Turkey in the Middle East creates problems for good relations between Iran and Turkey.

"During his visit to Turkey, Mohammad Javad Zarif has to conduct negotiations in connection with the policy pursued by this country in the Middle East region," said Ghazipour.

"I think that Iran and Turkey should continue consultations and the existing links should be developed," said Ghazipour.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Turkey at the end of the next week. Iranian press, referring to Turkish media reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that regional problems and issues of joint struggle of the two countries against the terrorist group "Islamic State" will be discussed during Zarif's visit.

It is expected that Zarif will visit Lebanon August 12.

Edited by CN

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