Turkey Reaffirms Respect for Iran’s Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity

In a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday evening, Cavusoglu underlined the close and friendly relations between Turkey and Iran, and highlighted Ankara’s definite policy of good neighborliness.

Cavusoglu also gave an assurance that President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan fully respects Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The senior Turkish diplomat explained that President Erdogan had not been aware of the sensitivity surrounding the lines he recited and associated the poem only with Lachin and Karabakh, which is why he recited it in a recent event in Baku.

For his part, Foreign Minister Zarif underscored the significance of friendly relations between the two neighbors that signify mutual respect.

Highlighting the cordial ties between the president of Turkey and the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Foreign Minister Zarif expressed hope for the expansion of bilateral relations on the basis of mutual trust.

The phone call from the Turkish foreign minister came after President Erdogan provoked controversy when he recited lines from a folk song that laments partitioning of the lands inhabited by Azeri people by the Aras river.

Erdogan was in Baku to review a military parade marking the Republic of Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in a recent war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.