Turkey 'summons' Iran envoy over media criticism
The Turkish Foreign Ministry says it has summoned Iran’s ambassador to Ankara in protest at alleged criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by some Iranian media outlets.
Iran’s Ambassador Alireza Bikdeli was summoned over reports linking the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi Arabia with last week’s visit to Riyadh by Erdogan, it said.
“We strongly condemn our president being directly targeted in certain articles in Iranian outlets controlled by the Iranian authorities... and demand that these articles cease immediately,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement further said assaults on two Saudi missions in Iran during angry protests against Riyadh’s execution of Sheikh Nimr were “unacceptable and deplorable.”
Bikdeli reportedly denied he had been summoned. The IRNA news agency quoted him as saying on his Facebook account that his visit to the Turkish ministry had been planned before.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Turkey was ready to do everything it could to help calm tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Sheikh Nimr was "politically motivated."
"We are against all instances of capital punishment, especially when it is politically motivated,” Kurtulmus told a press conference on Monday, adding the execution did not have Ankara’s support.
The execution has escalated already tense tensions in the region, threatening to derail peace efforts in Syria and Yemen.
Kurtulmus, who also serves as the Turkish government spokesman, voiced such concerns.
"The region is already a powder keg," Kurtulmus said. “Enough is enough. We need our peace in the region.”
Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr alongside 46 other people last Saturday. Nimr had been a vocal critic of the Riyadh regime.
A Saudi court had sentenced the clergyman to death in 2014, provoking widespread global condemnations.
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