Tehran, Iran, April 7
By Temkin Jafarov, Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Turkish President Recep Tayyep Erdogan accuses Iran of interfering with affairs in Yemen, but he has not said a word to Saudi Arabia with its blatant intrusion there, member of the Energy Commission of Iran's parliament Hossein Nejabat told Trend April 7.
"As for Erdogan's trip, I can only tell the parliament's view. Since in Iran things are not parliamentary in the sense that they are in some other countries, the parliament and government may hold differing views," he said.
"It really seems that Erdogan has made some strategic mistakes, which will be noted to him in the talks which are to be held here," Nejabat stated.
The Turkish president supports some groups and interferes with some affairs, he said, adding that while Erdogan accuses Tehran of interfering with Yemen's domestic affairs, he has so far kept away from saying anything about Saudi air strikes on that country.
"I think this would be pointed out to him during the talks he will have in Iran," the MP reiterated.
Following Erdogan's accusations of Iran, on April 6 some 65 Iranian MPs in a letter asked President Hassan Rouhani to caution his Turkish counterpart against his anti-Iranian remarks.
The MPs asked Rouhani to do so during Erdogan's upcoming visit to Tehran. Erdogan arrived in Tehran April 7.
Back in March, Erdogan accused the Islamic Republic of trying to monopolize the Middle East by seeking a Shia-dominated hegemony in neighbor countries.
Previously, MP Jabbar Kouchaki said that 50 lawmakers had signed a letter asking Rouhani to prevent Erdogan from entering Iran.
Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin took action against the letters.
"We have sent a clear message on these letters. The MPs would have to adopt a wise procedure so that their government may take a constructive policy rather than a populist approach. In the past five years, 300,000 people have been killed in Syria and we are ready to cooperate with responsible sides to end the situation," he stated.
The Tehran-Ankara disagreement is quite noticeable in Syria where, while Tehran supports President Bashar Assad, Ankara backs some of the opposition groups fighting Damascus.
...
