Iran Envoy Urges Support For Upcoming Syria Election

Ankara, May 17, IRNA – Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli on Friday underlined the need to support the presidential election in Syria due to be held in coming weeks. Speaking during a meeting with representatives of Journalistsˈ Association of Turkey at Iranian embassy in Ankara, Bigdeli said presidential elections in Syria can help restore peace and stability to the crisis-hit country. Iranian ambassador also expressed his condolences to Turkish nation and government over the coal mine explosion in western Turkey on Tuesday killing nearly 300 miners. On an upcoming visit to Turkey by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the ambassador said the two sides have agreed about the visit, but negotiations are underway to set a time for it. ˈSigning a number of already reached agreements between the two countries and discussions over the first Iran-Turkey Strategic Supreme Council will be on the agenda of Rouhaniˈs visit to Turkey,ˈ Bigdeli said. Iranian president was also scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, on the sidelines of the CICA Summit in Shanghai, China, but Turkish presidentˈs visit to China was canceled. In the meantime, Bigdeli also hailed trade relations between Iran and Turkey in recent years despite Western sanctions on Tehran. When asked to comment about Turkeyˈs demand for lower prices for Iranian gas exports to the country, Bigdeli said the issue was also discussed during a recent visit to Tehran by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan when Iran said this requires a new deal between the two countries, since the previous contract had been approved by the Iranian Parliament. He stressed that Iran is one of the biggest and most reliable suppliers of oil and gas to Turkey. Iran used to be the main provider of oil to Turkey before the imposition of Western sanctions on Tehran, Bigdeli said, expressing hope that the result of nuclear talks underway between Iran and the G5+1 would lead to normalization of Iranˈs oil exports to Turkey. /end