Iran FM Confers With Turkey’s President Gul

Ankara, Jan 19, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi here Wednesday met and conferred with Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul on issues of bilateral concern. Prior to his meeting with President Gul, Salehi had separate meetings with Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and also attended the opening session of the 23rd Joint Commission of Economic and Business Cooperation between Iran and Turkey. Salehi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Turkey’s southern city of Gunyah, where and visited the mausoleum of the late Iranian Gnostic poet Mowlana Jalaleddin Rumi Balkhi shortly after their arrival in Turkey. The 23rd Joint Commission of Economic and Business Cooperation between Iran and Turkey, headed jointly by the IRI Foreign Minister Salehi and Turkey’s Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Erdogan Bayraktar, opened in Ankara on Wednesday afternoon. The joint commission’s work will continue for two days and will end with the signing of a protocol by both countries. Salehi’s visit to Turkey is taking place after the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu of Tehran last month and Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s recent visit to Ankara under such conditions that the issue of Turkey’s hosting of the upcoming Iran-G5+1 resumed negotiations has been making topics of news media over the past few days. Salehi arrived in Ankara noon time, Wednesday./end