Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Mr. Javad Zarif paid an official visit to Turkey on November 1, 2013 upon the invitation of Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.

At the meetings as part of the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister which was the first high-level visit from Iran to Turkey since the inauguration of the new Iranian Government, bilateral relations between Turkey and Iran were addressed in a comprehensive manner and views were exchanged on current regional and international issues.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif held a joint press conference in Ankara following their meeting.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu pointing out that he and his Iranian counterpart had several meetings during the day, said that first of all they have planned the calendar for the forthcoming period in the context of bilateral relations and high level contacts.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu within this framework announced that he will visit Iran on November 25-26 to attend the Foreign Ministerial Meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization and to follow up the decisions taken at this visit. He maintained that he invited his Iranian counterpart to the Seb-i Aruz ceremonies, on the other hand in December President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani will be hosted in Turkey while Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Iran in January. “Thus the two countries will meet each month on the occasion of high level visits” underlined Foreign Minister Davutoğlu and said that taking also into account the regional developments, mutual high level visits will continue with a view to creating a new strategic framework for the bilateral agenda as soon as possible.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu drew attention that some circles try to represent Turkey and Iran as two rival countries. Emphasizing that Turkey and Iran are not rivals but friendly neighbouring countries which have common cultural and historical values Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stated that the synergy to be created by the two countries will result in increasing not only the bilateral relations but also regional peace as well as economic buoyancy in Euroasia.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stressed that it is agreed to develop the bilateral relations with a new understanding and with a strategic perspective concerning all Ministries and pointed out the importance of closer consultation between the two countries regarding the instabilities in the region.

Stating that Turkey is ready to cooperate fully with Iran in order to protect the right of the people in the Middle East to self-determination and to hinder ethnic and sectarian polarization Foreign Minister Davutoğlu highlighted that within this framework, despite some differences of opinion on Syria, there is a mutual understanding between Turkey and Iran on three basic points, namely taking precautions concerning humanitarian situation, meeting democratic demands of the Syrian people and achieving political transition peacefully.