Iran-Turkey To Cooperate On Resolution Of Syrian Crisis: Rahimi

Tehran, Oct 6, IRNA – Iran and Turkey have agreed to cooperate on resolution of Syrian crisis, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi said here on Friday. Rahimi made the remarks in the Mehrabad Airport after his visit to Ankara. He was back in Tehran on Friday evening after his two day visit to Turkey. “Both Tehran and Ankara believe that the Syrian crisis doesn’t have a military solution and the crisis should be resolved through political dialogue.” The high-ranking official noted that Turkey officials declared their commitment to investigate the attack to their territory from the Syrian soil in order to find who have been behind it, the Syrian government or the opposition? “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked both Damascus and Ankara to have restraint in case of the border attacks.” Rahimi also underlined that Tehran and Ankara agreed to increase the trade exchange between the two countries. “Iran-Turkey trade exchange could reach 25 billion US dollars and it has already surpassed 16.5 billion during the first half of the Iranian calendar which began from March 20 and ended on September 21,' noted the IRI Veep. Rahimi added that transition of Iran’s natural gas from Turkey to European countries was also discussed and agreed upon during the visit. First vice president conferred on Friday with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on issues of mutual interests. The meeting between the two officials was held behind closed door. The Iranian high ranking delegation led by Rahimi arrived in Ankara on Wednesday and was officially welcomed by Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The invitation for Rahimi and his high ranking economic delegation was accorded by Turkish premier. Rahimi also conferred with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on regional developments and talks between the two sides on expansion of economic cooperation was held in Ankara. Rahimi and Turkish premier met on Thursday night and then attended a joint press conference where they voiced the firm determination of both sides' high ranking officials to further broaden and deepen ties and cooperation. Turkish premier held a dinner banquet to honor the Iranian delegation on Thursday night. During the meeting between the two high ranking officials, the two sides studied avenues to further broaden economic cooperation and help remove red-tapes to this end. In case of Syria crisis, it should be noted that Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrest in Syria./end