Turkish Forum

Category: Iran

  • Sectarianism Brings Turkey, Iran Closer

    Dorian Jones

    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu after a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013.

    ISTANBUL — Turkey’s foreign minister is due to visit Tehran on November 26, the latest step in rapprochement efforts between the former close allies. Relations soured over the Syrian civil war, but with rising sectarian tensions across the region, the two countries have committed to rebuild their relationship.

    Turkey and Iran, on opposing sides of war in Syria, have been signaling a thaw in relations, saying they share concerns about the rising sectarianism in the conflict and could collaborate to bring peace to their neighbor.

     

    Sinan Ulgen is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels. He says the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s president has also opened the door to warming relations.

     

    “There was a rift. Now with the new presidency in Iran, Ankara sees the opportunity and tries to engage the new leadership. We can talk about a new period in terms of the Iranian-Turkish relationship, which, despite disagreements on a number of regional issues including Syria, seems to be going in the right direction,” says Ulgen.

     

    During a meeting earlier this month in Istanbul, the Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers pledged to work together to ease regional sectarian tensions. Until recently, the two countries had accused one another of stoking tensions between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims.

     

    As a Sunni power, Turkey and its government, led by the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, have been accused of pushing a foreign policy that favors Sunni interests. Iran and its Shi’ite clerical hierarchy have been guardians of Shi’a Islam in the Middle East, supporting Iraq’s Shi’ite-dominated government and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite militant group.

    Murat Bilhan is a former Turkish ambassador and works for the Tasam think tank. He says despite the new dialogue, suspicions will linger.

     

    “They still had a frank talk and these discussions have toned down the rhetoric between the two countries. They have difficulties to trust Turkey because they look from an angle of sectarianism to Turkey. That is how they perceive the Turkish foreign policy,” says Bilhan.

     

    Despite bilateral tensions, trade between the countries has continued to flourish. Turkey is Iran’s biggest customer for natural gas and Ankara has indicated it may increase its consumption.  Turkey has few natural energy reserves of its own.

     

    The increase in trade comes despite international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear energy program. Western countries claim the program is being used to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

     

    This week, world powers are meeting again in Geneva for talks on Iran’s nuclear program. The renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute is also another factor behind Ankara’s rapprochement efforts, says analyst Ulgen.

     

    “The nuclear negotiations have gathered momentum and there seems to be some quite substantial developments. And Turkey does not want to be totally alienated from this process. That’s also another reason why there has been a decision to reach out to Iran,” says Ulgen.

     

    Those efforts are expected to accelerate in the coming months, with visits by the Iranian president to Turkey and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iran. But observers say any efforts to expand ties between the two countries will be constrained by the Syrian conflict and the fact that Turkey and Iran have been – and will remain – regional rivals.

  • Turkey Suspects Turkish Students Who Visited Iran of Espionage

    Turkey Suspects Turkish Students Who Visited Iran of Espionage

    The detention of 25 Turkish students who visited Iran on suspicion they had been used for spying and propaganda activities reveals how tense Iran-Turkey relations actually have become. (photo by naturalgasasia.com)

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    By: Tulin Daloglu for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on October 4.

    Since the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002, there has been much debate about Turkey’s deepening identity crisis. Domestically, people are increasingly divided about the role of religion in political and civil life. Internationally, there have been allegations about Turkey’s tendencies toward moving away from its traditional Western alliance. While there is nothing surprising in all of this, since secularism has been one of the most contested components in this country’s political life since its establishment in 1923, what is intriguing is that the lack of debate about the strength of the people’s loyalty to Sunni traditions.

    ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

    Summary :

    The detention of 25 Turkish students who visited Iran on suspicion they had been used for spying and propaganda activities reveals how tense Iran-Turkey relations actually have become.

    Author: Tulin Daloglu

    Posted on: October 4 2013

    Categories : Originals Turkey   Iran   Security

    Despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan government’s opening to Iran within the framework of its “zero problems with neighbors” policy, Turkey reminds us often that these two countries have never fought a war since the 1514 Battle of Chaldoran, where the Ottomans defeated the Safavid Empire. Although there may be a different reading of this historical record, too, one thing is clear: Since that battle, the Ottomans and the Persians have been divided as being the representatives of the Sunni and Shiite worlds, and they chose to keep their relationship at a controlled distance. That distance did not change after the foundation of the Turkish Republic from the ashes of a defeated Ottoman Empire.

    So when Turkish authorities on Sept. 12 detained 25 Turkish students, ages 13-19, returning at the Gurbulak border gate from their 20-day study trip in Iran on the suspicion that they had been used for spying and propaganda activities, one needed to recall the long, historic perspective. Despite all the talks of brotherly bonding, there always has been a different underlying current between Ankara and Tehran. Although those students were quickly released after some questioning, pending further investigation, the leader of the group — identified only by the initials K.A. — was arrested. He said the Istanbul branch of Iran’s Camia-tul Mustafa University organized the study-course tour. Hurriyet Daily News reported that the university denies any involvement in this trip.

    The students visited various universities, including sacred Shiite venues, over the 20-day course in Iran. They were introduced to the country’s leading religious scholars, and held conversations with them. They also studied political and religious courses. That is to say, from the Iranian perspective, they were shown utmost hospitality and taken good care of. From the perspective of Iran’s ambassador in Ankara, Alireza Bikdeli,  these students are nothing but a bridge helping to strengthen the ties between the two countries.

    “We have more than 3,000 Iranian students registered at our embassy starting their school year at the universities here,” Bikdeli told Al-Monitor. “Unfortunately though, there are only a few Turkish students in Iranian universities. And the latest news reports about the 25 students who visited Iran and were detained at the border gate were quite saddening.” The ambassador added: “If we also take the same path, and decide to interrogate our Iranian students about their stay here, we may end up bringing all our interrogation officers to the border with Turkey.”

    So, why Iran does not take the same attitude and consider those Iranian students studying in Turkey as potential spies for the Ankara government? Or, why do the Turkish authorities worry about Turkish students visiting Iran, as if they can betray their country and faith as Sunni Muslims in a matter of 20 days, and move closer to the Iranian regime? Could there be a problem in Turkey regarding its loyalty to secularism and the Sunni faith?

    This issue of arresting those 25 students actually begs answers to questions like the above, and none are easy to answer in some ways. But  the truth could be quite simple and unpleasant to admit.

    Tulin Daloglu is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse. She has also written extensively for various Turkish and American publications, including The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Middle East Times, Foreign Policy, The Daily Star (Lebanon) and the SAIS Turkey Analyst Report. On Twitter: @TurkeyPulse

    via Turkey Suspects Turkish Students Who Visited Iran of Espionage – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

  • The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel triangle both in Tel Aviv and in the Muslim Middle East

    The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel triangle both in Tel Aviv and in the Muslim Middle East

    Gulnara Inanc
    Director, Ethnoglobus
    An International Online Information and Analysis Center
    The first ever visit by an Azerbaijani foreign minister to Israel and Palestine, a visit all sides called historic, underscored the growing strategic partnership between Baku and its two partners in the Middle East.  The first person Elmar Mammadyarov met in Israel was the chairman of the Knesset Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, who had long lobbied for close cooperation and a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan.  In large measure as a result of his efforts, earlier attempts by the Armenian lobby to raise the so-called “Armenian genocide” in the Knesset were blocked.  Last year, in response to the latest such attempt, Israeli President Shimon Peres and A. Lieberman, who was then Israeli foreign minister, openly declared that because of the country’s strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, the issue of the “Armenian genocide” would not be discussed in the Knesset.
    Mammadyarov arrived in Tel Aviv on March 24th, the very day Armenians have declared a memorial day for the “genocide.”  Armenian media on that occasion put out information about a Knesset discussion of the “genocide,” but that did not happen.  Undoubtedly, it was very important for Azerbaijan to receive reassurance that the recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide” would not be considered in the Knesset.
    Among the notable outcomes of the Azerbaijani foreign minister’s visit to Israel was Baku’s declaration on his return that Azerbaijan is ready to sign a broad agreement concerning the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. [1] Israel beyond any doubt is not in a position to promise something regarding that conflict or to resolve it in some way.  But Tel Aviv is in a position to seek the broader support of Jewish groups around the world regarding the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict.  And consequently, the growing ties between Azerbaijan and Israel open the way for progress in the talks just as was the case some five years ago.
    Earlier this year, the Jewish community of the United States held a conference on “Israeli Relations with the States of the South Caucasus.”  Avigdor Lieberman, with whom Foreign Minister Mammadyarov met in Israel, and President Shimon Peres have been devoting particular attention to the development of relations with the South Caucasus countries in general and Azerbaijan in particular. [2] Following his meeting with Lieberman, Mammadyarov went to Ramallah where the Palestinian authority declared its support for Baku’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the issue of the so-called “Armenian genocide.”
    Azerbaijan supports the independence of Palestine and the division of Jerusalem, and in response to this support, it is seeking Palestinian backing on the two issues of greatest importance to itself.  A conference in Baku scheduled to be held later this summer can be considered part of the result of the Ramallah talks.
    Palestine enjoys authority and is at the center of attention of the Islamic world.  Azerbaijan, in turn, has grown into an economically and politically powerful country not only in the South Caucasus, but more broadly as well.  Rid al Maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Autonomy, stressed this in his meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, noting that Azerbaijan enjoys authority in the leading international organizations. [3] Therefore, the support of Ramallah is significant, because it brings with it the attention of the Islamic and international community.  Thus, Azerbaijan was able to achieve its goal of gaining Palestine’s support for its positions.  In view of this, it is worth recalling the declaration made by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Haled ben Saud ben Haled, that the international community must mount pressure on Armenia to secure a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict [4] and a second declaration by Iranian leader Ali Khamenei that “Karabakh is a Muslim land … something that is supported at the highest levels.”
    Both of these declarations can be seen as the result of Baku’s careful and balanced foreign policy.  Of course, one should focus attention on the fact that this historic visit to Israel took place after the Turkish-Israel rapprochement.  Interestingly, one of the clearest opponents of that rapprochement, A. Lieberman, nonetheless agreed with it.  The Israeli media suggested that he had not been informed about the plans for this new coming together.  Lieberman thus had to “close his eyes” and put out the red carpet for Mammadyarov.  Having lost its Arab partners after the Arab spring, Israel had no choice but to return to strategic relations with Turkey.  That, in turn, has increased the importance of the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel triangle both in Tel Aviv and in the Muslim Middle East.
    Azerbaijan’s geographic location next to Iran also increases its strategic significance, something that Israeli President Peres went out of his way to stress.  This does not mean that Baku offered or is planning to offer its territory as a place des armesfor a military operation against Iran.  Baku has repeatedly indicated that cooperation with Israel does not include that and is generally not aimed against Iran, even though many observers tend to see Baku’s cooperation with Israel as the former’s way of restraining Iran.
    Notes
    [1] See https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/elmar_memmedyarov/1649480.html (accessed 28 April 2013).
    [2] See http://izrus.co.il/dvuhstoronka/article/2012-02-28/17144.html#ixzz2QngVkiJZ (accessed 28 April 2013).
    [3] See  (accessed 28 April 2013).
    [4] See  (accessed 28 April 2013).
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  • PKK Kurdish deal with Turkey may worry Iran and Syria

    PKK Kurdish deal with Turkey may worry Iran and Syria

    By Guney YildizBBC Turkish

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    This image shows a PKK fighter in the Turkish mountains

    Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have begun leaving south-eastern Turkey for their main bases in northern Iraq, but there is no talk of disarmament yet.

    Instead, several top commanders of the PKK have said they will keep and even consolidate their forces.

    So what will the thousands of well-trained militants in Qandil, Zap and other PKK-controlled areas of northern Iraq do, as the truce with Turkey holds?

    This is probably the question the Iranian and Syrian governments have been asking since the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, who is negotiating a peace deal with Turkey, urged militants to withdraw from inside Turkey.

    The group has two sister parties in Iran and Syria with their own armed wings: the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), which is fighting against Iran, and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which holds the reins of power in Kurdish areas of Syria. Both have many fighters from Turkey’s Kurdish areas.

    “Iran’s main concern is whether the PKK fighters will be joining forces with PJAK or not,” says Mehdi Talati, a Swiss-based Iranian security analyst.

    “PJAK, with its current strength, does not represent a strong challenge to the Iranian army, but it could pose a significant threat with reinforcements from the PKK.”

    Surprise

    Only two years ago, Iran and Turkey were conducting joint military operations against the PKK’s main bases in the Qandil Mountains.

    Prof Nader Entessar of the University of South Alabama in the US argues Iran was taken by surprise by the peace process in Turkey: “The Iranian government doesn’t appear to have foreseen this and developed a plan B for this situation yet; we may say that they were caught off-guard.”

    A ceasefire has been in place between the PKK’s Iranian offshoot and Tehran since the autumn of 2011.

    Although the PKK has shown its resilience in the face of joint military operations from Turkey and Iran, the group has sought to avoid fighting on two fronts whenever it can.

    PKK executive leader Murat Karayilan has tried hard to establish a ceasefire between PJAK and Iran in order to focus on the fight against Turkey.

    He recently reiterated that he would like to see the truce between PJAK and Iran continue.

    However, Abdullah Ocalan has talked about the possibility of PKK militants joining forces with the PYD and PJAK.

    “I don’t believe that our guerrilla force will [cease being active] when we withdraw – there are Syria and Iran,” he was quoted as saying in leaked meeting notes with three MPs of the pro-Kurdish BDP, who went to meet him at Imrali Prison where he is being held.

    Backfiring

    Another potential loser in a peace deal between the PKK and Turkey could be Syria.

    The PKK

    • The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, demanding greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population
    • Since then, some 40,000 people have died in the conflict
    • It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organisation because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians

    Syria’s policy towards the PKK has fluctuated over the last decades.

    Seeing the PKK as a counterbalance against Turkey, the late President Hafez al-Assad harboured the group up until 1998, when his government forced the PKK leader out of the country under pressure from Turkey and the US.

    Relations between Turkey and Syria became friendlier in the following years, and Assad’s son and incumbent president, Bashar, reiterated Syria’s full support for Turkey’s war with the PKK.

    In a bid to retaliate against the shifting position of the Syrian government, Abdullah Ocalan decided, in the last few days of his stay in Syria, to establish a separate Kurdish group to fight against the Syrian government.

    This move now gives Mr Ocalan one of his strongest cards in Imrali prison as he negotiates a peace deal with Turkey.

    The PYD, re-established in 2003 after the failure of the first attempt, now holds the reins of power in most of the Kurdish areas of Syria.

    Turkey is keen to see the PYD step up the fight against Syria, and some think they can count on Mr Ocalan to influence the Syrian Kurd position towards Turkey and the Syrian government.

    The co-chair of the PYD, Saleh Muslim Muhammed, told BBC Turkish in London: “Ocalan is not only the leader of the PKK. He is a leader of the Kurdish people as well. We cannot overlook his opinions.”

    “Start Quote

    Iran may be the only country left with a Kurdish problem”

    Mehdi TalatiIranian security analyst

    The Syrian government’s hitherto friendly relations with Turkey came to an end in 2011, when the Turkish government declared its open support for the Syrian rebels.

    In the face of the rebel uprising, Syrian government forces pulled out of Kurdish areas in the north to concentrate on the fighting elsewhere.

    This move was based on the premise that de facto Kurdish autonomy on the Turkish border would pose a challenge to the Turkish government.

    But that premise could turn out to be false if a Turkish peace deal with the PKK holds.

    Boost for Turkey

    Saleh Muslim Muhammed confirms that the Kurds in Syria have been watching the peace negotiations between the PKK and Turkey with high hopes.

    “We are ready to talk to Turkey without any conditions and we begin to see indications of a change in the Turkish policy towards us,” he said.

    The conflict with the PKK has effectively challenged Turkey’s regional ambitions, especially last year when the militants held ground in Turkey’s south-eastern corner for a couple of weeks.

    Now a halt in the conflict could mean Turkey would be able to free up its military and economic resources and this would result in an increase in Turkey’s regional profile, says Mr Talati.

    On the economic front, the conflict has cost Turkey more than $300bn (£194bn), according to official figures.

    Mr Talati adds: “It is too early to decide whether the Turkish government is honest about a political solution to the Kurdish question. But if it reaches its intended conclusion, then Iran may be the only country left with a Kurdish problem.”

  • Israel to join Turkey, Arab states to stop Iran

    Israel to join Turkey, Arab states to stop Iran

    British newspaper reports Israel will agree to joint effort with regional powers to counter Iran, “fundamentalist crescent”.

    ShowImage

    Iranian ballisitic missile launched at war game. Photo: Ho New / Reuters

    Israel has been working toward a cooperative agreement in compliance with Turkey and three Arab states to implement an allied system of detection technologies to defend against Iranian ballistic projectiles, British newspaper The Sunday Times reported.

    The initiative, termed “4+1”, reportedly proposes joint efforts to be taken by Israel along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan to share access to radar and anti-missile technologies, according to the Times.

    Under the initiative, Israeli technicians would gain access to data from radar technologies in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in return for allowing experts from its partners to tap into Jerusalem’s anti-missile and advanced radar defense systems, the report said.

    The plan, brokered by the United States, aims to create a “moderate crescent” in the region in contrast to the “fundamentalist crescent” consisting of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah, the report said.

    Related:

    Report: Israel, UAE, Saudis in huge US arms deal

    Israel views “4+1” as an ambitious plan presented by Washington as “the Americans are working on a regional alliance to deter and contain Tehran,” the Times reported an Israeli official as saying.

    via ‘Israel to join Turkey, Arab states to stop Iran’ | JPost | Israel News.

  • Iran, Turkey enjoy common interests: Iranian president

    Iran, Turkey enjoy common interests: Iranian president

    TEHRAN, April 27 (Xinhua) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran and Turkey share common interests when meeting with visiting Turkish minster of development, Press TV reported.

    “Iran and Turkey are two large countries with plentiful talents, and the development of bilateral relations is in the interests of both countries and the entire region,” said Ahmadinejad.

    “Common enemies” of both countries are against the expansion of ties between the two nations, as it would be harmful to their interests, he was quoted as saying.

    Turkish Minster of Development Cevdet Yilmaz, for his part, hailed the expansion of Iran-Turkey relations during Ahmadinejad’s presidency, saying that his country supports more cooperation with the Islamic republic.

    The Turkish minister added that Tehran and Ankara share interests in regional and global issues, “and even if we have differences of opinion on some issues, Turkey recognizes that the future and destiny of the two countries are tied together,” according to Press TV.

    Turkey seeks to increase the volume of trade transactions with Iran to more than 30 billion U.S. dollars from the current level of 22 billion dollars, said Yilmaz who, heading an economic delegation, is on a three-day visit to Iran.

    via Iran, Turkey enjoy common interests: Iranian president – Xinhua | English.news.cn.