TURKISH PM LEAVES FOR IRAN

July 27, 2004 admin-dominor

Before he left for Iran for an official visit, Erdogan told reporters that he would discuss bilateral relations, and ways to further improve existing cooperation, noting that political, economic and commercial relations between Turkey and Iran had improved in recent years.

Erdogan said that Iran was a very important neighbor of Turkey and noted, "our trade volume doubled and reached 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in one year. We aim to increase it to 5 billion U.S. dollars in the medium term. We should put into practice new projects, and enhance our cooperation. We will discuss all these issues in detail. I will meet Mohammad Reza Aref, the Iranian First Vice President, President Khatami, Parliament Speaker Adel and some ministers during my visit."

"We will also exchange views on not only bilateral relations but also regional and international issues," Erdogan said.

Erdogan expressed belief that his visit would contribute to further improvement of relations and cooperation between two countries.

Asked if he would discuss terrorism during his meetings, Erdogan said, "Turkish and Iranian intelligence organizations continue exchanging information. This issue will be discussed during my visit."

When asked if two countries would agree to take joint action against the terrorist organization, Erdogan said that this issue would be discussed during his meetings.

"We will discuss everything related with this issue, and reiterate our demand that Iran should include the terrorist organization (PKK) in the list of terrorist networks," Erdogan said.

When recalled a similar agreement was reached by Syria and asked if PKK problem ended, Erdogan said, "end of terrorism is out of question. Terrorism can also be seen in many countries where terrorism is said to end. All countries should cooperate in fight against international terrorism. Ours is a regional solidarity."

Erdogan said that natural gas would also be discussed during his meeting and hoped to get a positive result in their discussion on reduction of natural gas prices.