Presidential trip to Türkiye; What files will be on the table?

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, President Iran is going to Ankara at the invitation of its Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A high-ranking political and economic delegation will accompany him on this trip, and the eighth meeting of the Supreme Council of Iran-Turkey Cooperation will be held under the chairmanship of the two presidents.

The seventh round of this meeting will be held in Tehran. and it was held on July 28, 1401, and the parties agreed on the development of relations and promotion of relations in several economic, infrastructure, security, political, cultural and sports fields. It is expected that 10 agreements will be signed in the fields of culture, science, media, internal affairs, transportation, trade and economy within the framework of the President’s visit to Turkey.

Raisi and Erdoğan will share the results of their talks with journalists at the press conference. Also, during this trip, both presidents will attend the joint meeting of businessmen and economic activists of Iran and Turkey, and a group of Iranians living in Turkey are supposed to listen to the president’s speech.

The 8th meeting of the Supreme Council of Iran Cooperation And Turkey is very important for Tehran and Ankara, but in parallel, political and regional issues have also gained special importance. Because Raeesi is traveling to Turkey in a situation where after the historical operation of Al-Aqsa Storm, Iran and Turkey have taken a stand against the Zionist regime as the most important actors in the Islamic world. The President of Iran has received the attention of the Turkish media, and the news base of the state-run TRT radio and television series stated: “President Erdogan’s first guest in the new year will be the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi.” Raisi is going to come to Türkiye tomorrow for an official visit. In the meeting between Erdoğan and Raisi, Israel’s attacks on Gaza and bilateral relations will be discussed. A memorandum of cooperation will be signed. This media wrote: “In this meeting, aspects of measures that can be taken to improve existing relations in areas such as economy, trade, energy, transportation and defense industries will be evaluated.” They will also discuss possible steps for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Raisi and Erdogan, who have met twice by phone and once in person in Uzbekistan since October 7, will discuss what can be done to end the humanitarian crisis in the region and ensure a permanent ceasefire. Erdogan will convey Turkey’s solution proposals to his Iranian counterpart. Erdogan and Raisi will also discuss developments in the South Caucasus and Syria and the fight against terrorism.”

What did Erdogan’s close advisor say about Iran? >

Professor Burhanuddin Doran, one of the close advisors of the Turkish Presidential Institution’s foreign policy and national security team and the head of the political and economic studies think tank “Seta”, in his latest analysis, He discussed the importance of Iran-Turkey relations and wrote: “The bilateral and regional evaluations of Tehran and Ankara during the visit of the President of Iran on January 4th are of vital importance. Iran was one of the most important winners of the period after the Al-Aqsa storm operation on October 7. It is not unlikely that during 2024, Iran will face limited movements from the US and Israel because of this victory. Because in the period after the attack of Hamas, Israel has defined mobilization against Iran and other supporters of Hamas as its priority. Let’s remember that even Hamas, as the weakest link in the axis of resistance, has been able to damage Israel’s deterrence to this extent. In this case, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other groups close to Iran will act much more effectively and powerfully against Israel. will do Meanwhile, Turkey, which opposes Israel’s killings at the highest level, will make diplomatic efforts on the one hand to prosecute war criminals and on the other hand to reach a ceasefire and implement a two-state solution.

Consultant Erdoğan continued and wrote about Iran’s regional power: “America does not want to get into regional tension and conflict any more, and with the increasing development of Iran’s capabilities, it is disturbed and probably has to take new steps to counter Tehran’s initiatives.” In such an atmosphere, Turkey wants to turn its areas of competition with Iran (Zangzor Corridor and Development Road) into cooperation, and especially in the fight against the PKK, go beyond the current level of cooperation”.

Iran and Turkey, the goal of 30 billion dollars

Iran and Turkey have many commonalities and similarities. Each of these two important countries of the Islamic world has a population of 85 million people. This means two large markets with 170 million consumers, and as such, there is considerable capacity to increase the level of cooperation, with a target of $30 billion for the volume of trade between the two countries. However, the current volume of trade between the two countries is approximately 6 billion dollars, which is much lower than the potential capacities of the parties. Previously, in the framework of the preferential trade agreement between Iran and Turkey, the entry of some products into Iran was facilitated, but later, the authorities of our country excluded these products from the scope of the agreement, and now the Turks want to be included in the agreement again and its clauses to be developed.

Erdogan has repeatedly complained that the trade balance in bilateral exchanges is often in favor of Iran. But at least in the field of tourism, Turkey benefits more. The statistics of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism indicate that 2.3 million Iranian tourists visited Turkey last year, while the number of tourists from Turkey to Iran was 357 thousand.

The creation of the border commercial sector is by creating commercial centers along the border line of Iran. At the meeting of the Joint Economic Commission in Tehran, efforts were already made to develop trade between the two countries. With the start of Gorbulak modernization work in 2021, transport and passenger crossings between the two countries were concentrated on 2 gates. However, the crossings are expected to return to normal when work at Gorbulak is completed this year. Further improvements are also expected in the field of transportation. The resumption of Tehran-Van passenger train services, which was stopped during the Corona era, is another expectation of Turkey.

KKK and Turkey’s need for Iran

Turkish media also announced that Ankara will ask Raisi during this trip to help Iran and Turkey in the fight against KKK help this country. Last week, Turkey spent several days in public mourning due to the attack of PKK elements on its military forces in northern Iraq, which led to the death of 12 soldiers, and now it expects Tehran to help it in this direction. However, Iran’s position on Turkey’s campaign to northern Iraq and Syria under the pretext of confronting the PKK and its branches in Syria is negative and has demanded the withdrawal of Turkish military forces from these countries.

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