AFP, Ankara :
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held talks Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is hoping to boost trade with the Islamic republic following the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.
The meeting at Erdogan’s lavish palace near Ankara comes a day after Iran came under fierce criticism from fellow heads of state from the Muslim world, who accused his country at a summit in Istanbul of supporting terrorism.
Rouhani boycotted the closing meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in protest at the rebuke.
His meeting with Erdogan, who is also at the centre of controversy, for seeking to silence critics at home and abroad, is expected to focus on the Syrian conflict and two-way trade.
Flanked by several ministers, Rouhani was due to co-chair with Erdogan a strategic cooperation council aimed at improving the two countries’ relationship.
In a break with a tradition usually observed by visiting heads of state, his itinerary will not include a trip to the Ankara mausoleum of Turkey’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, symbol of secular Turkey.
After being brought in from the cold following last year’s nuclear deal with world powers Iran is being courted by both Europe and Turkey as a potentially lucrative market for trade and investment.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held talks Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is hoping to boost trade with the Islamic republic following the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.
The meeting at Erdogan’s lavish palace near Ankara comes a day after Iran came under fierce criticism from fellow heads of state from the Muslim world, who accused his country at a summit in Istanbul of supporting terrorism.
Rouhani boycotted the closing meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in protest at the rebuke.
His meeting with Erdogan, who is also at the centre of controversy, for seeking to silence critics at home and abroad, is expected to focus on the Syrian conflict and two-way trade.
Flanked by several ministers, Rouhani was due to co-chair with Erdogan a strategic cooperation council aimed at improving the two countries’ relationship.
In a break with a tradition usually observed by visiting heads of state, his itinerary will not include a trip to the Ankara mausoleum of Turkey’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, symbol of secular Turkey.
After being brought in from the cold following last year’s nuclear deal with world powers Iran is being courted by both Europe and Turkey as a potentially lucrative market for trade and investment.
