Alwaght- Continuing policy of expansion of relations with neighbors under “pivot to the East” policy, the administration of President Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi has picked Turkey as the priority of its diplomacy in 2024. To this end, Iran’s president arrived in Ankara at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation.
After official reception ceremony, President Raisi held a bilateral with Erdogan. The eighth summit of the Iranian-Turkish High Cooperation Commission (HEC) headed by the two presidents is scheduled to be held. The two presidents will also participate in the meeting of the businesspeople of the two countries and Raisi will hold a meeting with Iranians expats in Turkey.
In a report about the details of Raisi’s trip, TRT news network reported that in the meeting between Raisi and Erdogan, several MoUs will be signed. In this meeting, measures that can be taken to improve existing relations in areas such as economy, trade, energy, transportation and defense industries will be evaluated. The two sides will also discuss possible steps for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. This trip was scheduled for January 5, but it was postponed because of the terrorist attack in Kerman.
Economy, a top priority
Like the past years that economic partnership was the top case of discussion, this year, too, Raisi’s visit is primarily driven by business agenda. Tehran and Ankara made agreements in the past years and set a goal to touch $30 billion trade volume.
Commenting on the current level of trade between the two sides, Deputy Minister of Economy and Head of Customs of Iran Mohammad Rezvanifar recently stated that Iran’s total trade with Turkey reached more than $8.5 billion in 9 months of the Persian year, starting from March. According to Rizvanifar, during this period, 6.4 million tons of goods worth $3.3 billion have been exported to Turkey, which increased by 12.5 percent in terms of weight. On the amount of imports from Turkey in the last 9 months, he said that during this period, 3 million tons of goods with a value of $5.3 billion have been shipped to Iran, which shows a 12-percent growth in terms of weight and 17-percent growth in terms of value.
Turkey is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian gas and gets part of its energy from its neighbor and has always tried to maintain its relations with the Islamic Republic regardless of Western sanctions and political pressure.
Turkey is also working on a proposal to create a border trade sector by establishing trade centers along the border line with Iran. At the meeting of the HEC in Tehran, efforts were made to boost trade between the two nations. The 7th meeting of the commission was held in July 2022 during Erdogan’s official visit to Tehran, where the two sides agreed on bolstering the relations in economic, infrastructure, security, political, cultural and sports fields.
Like Iran, Turkey has always tried to boost economic ties with the Islamic Republic. One of the factors that contributes to their partnership is establishment of border markets. They launched two border markets, Sarv and Mako, and should Turkey do its part and build infrastructures, border provinces will enjoy economic boom.
Also, the boom of tourism of the two neighbors plays a significant role in strengthening bilateral relations. According to figures, more than 2.3 million Iranians travel to Turkey annually, and the share of Turks in tourism is higher than that of Iran, which annually hosts 357,000 Turkish citizens.
As members of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Iran and Turkey over the past decade have focused on developing railway networks, and their trains have so far several times traveled between Turkey and Pakistan. So, the two neighbors can develop their railways even further and make progress in the transportation, which will cut the costs, distance, and time.
Gaza war on Raisi-Erdogan discussion agenda
In addition to bilateral relations, regional issues, on top of them Gaza war, is on the agenda of Tehran-Ankara talks.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Iran and Turkey have been among the most important actors in the Islamic world who took strong positions against the Israeli regime. They can further coordinate their positions on this case.
Gaza war has motivated Iran-Turkey coordination and dialogue, something showing their bilateral support to Hamas and its right for resistance against the Israeli aggression.
Using any international platform to condemn the Israeli crimes in Gaza, Iran this time through Raisi sends a message from Ankara to Tel Aviv that it should end the massacre immediately.
The previous meetings of Muslim world leaders failed to work out a consensus point for taking economic and political steps to check the Israeli war machine, but Turkey is seriously working for a permanent ceasefire and an enforcement mechanism for it, and has expressed its interest to participate in the new security arrangements post-war.
Some political experts told London-based Arabic-language Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Raisi intends to press Ankara for a tougher stance against Tel Aviv, but Turkey does not want to cut off its relations with the Israeli which it finds important to help the Palestinians.
As a country supporting Palestine, Turkey can be effective in settling Gaza crisis, and that is why US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken chose Turkey as his first destination during his regional trip to gain this country’s support for its policy and approach regarding Israel-Hamas conflict. In their meeting with the top US diplomat, the officials of Ankara, referring to the growing aggression of the Israeli regime, described it a threat to the entire region. In his meeting with Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan highlighted the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza, the supply of permanent humanitarian aids to this part of Palestine, and resumption of talks for a two-state solution.
Turkey not serious in the face of Israel
Despite Iran-Turkey’s common views on the Palestinian cause, their performance and policies in the region are different. Erdogan’s fiery speech in support of the Palestinians at the beginning of Gaza war gave rise to this imagination to the public that Turkey is on the frontline of anti-Israeli occupation struggle. In his speech, Erdogan compared the barbarous Israeli attacks on Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. However, criticism waned down gradually, and today there are no marks of those strong anti-Israeli stances of the initial days of Gaza war.
Economy seems to have been effective in Turkey’s walk-back from its earlier stances. According to reports, Turkish exports to the occupied territories increased by 34.8 percent in December, namely at the peak of the Gaza massacre, from $319.5 million in November to $430.6 million in December. The interesting point is that their trade before Gaza massacre was $408 million.
In addition, Turkey provides a transit route for Azerbaijan’a gas supplies to the Israeli regime despite ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. If it was serious in its Gaza support, Turkey could block gas supplies and force-stop the Israeli war machine. But it seems that economic interests are dissuading such an action.
Iranian officials and Muslim public opinion demand an economic and oil embargo on the Israeli regime, because sanctions are the biggest way to inflict damage on the occupiers and force them to stop their genocide in Gaza, but Turkey and the Arab monarchies not only have not joined sanctions campaign, but also assisted the Israelis as much as they could, allowing it to comfortably continue its crimes. By reminding Turkey of the consequences of genocide in Gaza, Raisi can persuade Ankara leaders to take effective actions on the world stage against Tel Aviv.
Karabakh dispute
Karabakh dispute is one of the important issues that can be raised during Raisi’s visit. Since Karabakh crisis between Azerbaijan and Armenia has winded down and diplomatic efforts are underway for a lasting peace, Tehran and Ankara as influential regional powers in this crisis can play a central role and guide Baku and Yerevan to a peace path. They can defuse the crisis in Caucasus by building a corridor connecting the territory of Azerbaijan to the autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan through Iran’s transit routes, as they know the continuation of tensions is not in the interest of any of the countries and will only provide excuses to the international powers to abuse the situation and implement their evil plans.
Turkey played a constructive role when crisis erupted recently between Iran and Pakistan over attacks on terrorist groups on each other’s soil. Erdogan called on the two countries to show self-restraint and voiced Ankara’s readiness to mediate. These stances show that like other regional actors, Turkey is seriously concerned about escalation of tensions in the region, especially that Iran as the eastern gate of Turkey has a fundamental role in maintaining the country’s security and economic interests.
