Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has expressed his concern over the prolongation of certain crises in the region, saying Iran and Turkey can play an influential role in resolving regional woes because of their extensive capacities.
In a meeting with outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour on Wednesday, the Turkish president said the two countries have great potentials to improve mutual relations.
He added that he has been closely monitoring Ankara’s ties with the friendly country of Iran over recent years and noted that the two sides made “rare progresses” in their relations.
Gul expressed hope that Tehran and Ankara would proceed with the amicable relations and make use of their utmost capacity to further expand ties.
Hosseinpour, for his part, said that the goodwill and support of the two countries’ senior officials played a leading role in the promotion of mutual relations.
He added that the value of trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey surpassed 20 billion dollars in 2012 and emphasized that the two countries presented a clear example of ties [based on] good neighborliness, friendship and understanding to the region.
The value of the Iran-Turkey trade exceeded USD 16 billion in 2011. The two countries plan to increase the level of their bilateral trade volume to USD 30 billion by 2015.
SF/HJL/MA
