Turkey’s president insisted on Monday that he is still planning to visit Iran next week, despite a war of words with the Islamic Republic triggered by the Yemen crisis. Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also accused the government in Tehran of seeking to dominate the region, Agence France-Presse reported. Turkey has said that it supports the Saudi-led operation against Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen to restore order in the country.
He made his comments after Iran announced that it had “invited” the Turkish envoy to the foreign ministry for an explanation after Erdogan said last week that Tehran’s bid for domination of the region could no longer be tolerated.
“We are keeping the programme of our visit,” Erdogan told reporters at Istanbul airport before flying on a visit to Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania. “However, we are watching developments in Yemen as they are very important for us.” Upon arrival in Slovenia, Erdogan told reporters that all parties from outside Yemen which are involved “in this attack on its territorial integrity” should leave now.
Hussein Shariatmadari, the editor of the leading conservative newspaper in Iran, Kayhan, said that Erdogan’s trip to Iran is an “insult” to the Iranian people and a “betrayal” of the resistance. “An immediate cancellation [of the visit] is the least expected from the ministry of foreign affairs,” he insisted.
According to Esmail Kosari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign affairs committee, if the foreign ministry does not cancel the president’s trip, then parliament will take up the issue next week.
A ministry spokeswoman made a more measured response. “Iran’s approach to the region and relations with neighbours is based on peace, stability and cooperation based on mutual respect,” she said. “We believe that Iran-Turkey cooperation can meet this goal.”