Tag: Ahmadinejad

  • 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.

  • Ahmadinejad Calls for Reformed Int’l Structures in Letter to New Pope

    Ahmadinejad Calls for Reformed Int’l Structures in Letter to New Pope

    Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a congratulation message to the new Pope on Sunday stressed that international structures need to be reformed in a move to protect global peace and justice.

    A1137052This was mentioned in the Iranian president’s congratulation message to “Pope Francis I” on his election as the new World Catholic Leader.

    In his message, the Iranian President referred to the current crises the world is facing, stressing that the today world is in dire need of reforms in the unfair international structures.

    He further said the common mission of all prophets of divine religions is to invite people to fight oppression and administer justice.

    The President further hoped the world would witness peace and justice.

    In relevant remarks in August, President of the UN General Assembly Nasser Abdulaziz also stressed the necessity for reforming the world body’s structure.

    “The UN Security Council (UNSC) needs reforms to adapt itself to the new realities in the world,” Abdulaziz said, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran at the time.

    He added that the UN General Assembly has already discussed the need for restructuring the UNSC, and reached some results.

    He noted that the UN General Assembly can provide a better room for international cooperation among members.

    His remarks came after Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also said that “the UN Security Council has an illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism.”

    “This is a flagrant form of dictatorship, which is antiquated and obsolete and whose expiry date has passed. It is through abusing this improper mechanism that America and its accomplices have managed to disguise their bullying as noble concepts and impose it on the world,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the NAM summit in August.

    via Ahmadinejad Calls for Reformed Int’l Structures in Letter to New Pope.

  • Turkey vs. Iran: The Rivalry for Dominance of the Middle East

    Turkey vs. Iran: The Rivalry for Dominance of the Middle East

    After years of tenuous cooperation, the two regional powers look increasingly like competitors.

    erdogan feb24 p

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul / Reuters

    Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party appears to be recalibrating its Iran policy and increasingly distancing itself from the more vocal support it previously gave the Iranian regime. As the two powers tussle over Syria, Iraq and other issues, analysts warn that their rivalry for leadership in the Middle East is only likely to sharpen.

    But, for now, at least officially, Turkey maintains that it is still committed to maintaining its outreach to Iran and moving beyond the mutual suspicions that characterized the two countries’ relations in decades past.

    “We are doing our best to create the atmosphere for dialogue,” one senior Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me. “Yes, we don’t agree about all issues with Iran — about what’s happening in Iraq, in Syria — but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk with them. We are expressing our concerns and reactions with them about everything face-to-face.”

    Some recent statements from Turkish officials, though, suggest a more complex picture.

    At a February 5 meeting of the Justice and Development Party, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc delivered a blistering critique of Iran’s policy of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad despite the Syrian government’s bloody crackdown on opposition strongholds.

    “I am addressing the Islamic Republic of Iran: I do not know if you are worthy of being called Islamic,” Arinc said, according to the Anatolia state news agency. “Have you said a single thing about what is happening in Syria?”

    This tone represents quite a change from 2009, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül was among the first world leaders to congratulate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on his contested reelection, or in 2010, when Ankara put its relationship with Washington on the line by voting against Iran sanctions in the United Nations Security Council.

    News coverage also comes with a sharper edge. The Turkish press has increasingly started running articles that cast suspicions on Iran’s intentions in the region and in Turkey, with some recent reports and columns suggesting that the Revolutionary Guards were planning attacks inside Turkey and that Iran is smuggling weapons through the country to Syria.

    Hugh Pope, Turkey project director for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, and one of the authors of a report on Iran and Turkey to be released on February 23, believes that Ankara’s more critical stance toward Iran indicates that “[t]he more hawkish faction in Ankara, the kind that thinks Iran is crossing the line in Syria and Iraq, is becoming more pronounced . . .”

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “feels personally burned by the Iranians . . . ” Pope commented. “Erdoğan likes to have wins and the risks he took for Iran did not pay off, either in the US or Iran.”

    But the two sides’ mutual wariness is not always consistent. An Iranian general earlier threatened a retaliatory strike if Turkey hosted a North Atlantic Treaty Organization missile radar, but, nonetheless, Tehran has also proposed Istanbul as a possible site for another round of talks about Iran’s nuclear research program.

    Much of the Turkish-Iranian sparring is done instead via proxies. In Iraq, Turkey’s neighbor to the south, Ankara’s support for the Sunni Iraqiya alliance resulted in a falling out with Iranian-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has since gone on to accuse Ankara of “interfering” in Iraq’s internal affairs.

    “There is quite a strong and growing rivalry between the two countries inside of Iraq, and it stems from having genuinely different interests,” said Sean Kane, a former UN official in Iraq and the author of a 2011 report on Turkish-Iranian competition in Iraq for the United States Institute of Peace.

    “For Turkey, having a strong Iraq has historically been a bulwark against Kurdish separatism and Iranian adventurism. Iran looks at all of this very differently. A strong Iraq is a rival, and historically has been a hard security threat.”

    Trade between Iran and Turkey, long a buffer against bad relations, also appears to offer little room for cooperation.

    While trade between Turkey and Iran shot up from $1 billion in 2000 to $16 billion last year, most of that consists of Turkish imports of natural gas and oil. Joint ventures between Turkish and Iranian companies have failed to materialize and several large projects that were given to Turkish concerns ended up being taken away with little warning or explanation.

    “I don’t see Turkey’s outreach to Iran working,” said an executive at a large Turkish trade organization. “There’s no transparency or accountability in Iran. Turkish companies have had a very hard time penetrating the Iranian market.”

    Despite Prime Minister Erdoğan’s multiple trips to the country, “Turkey didn’t get any deals out of Iran,” added the executive, who declined to be named. “Recent developments . . . will only make it harder.”

    Still, despite the numerous points of friction and the growing rivalry, few observers expect outright conflict between Ankara and Tehran.

    “I don’t think Turkey has any intent to fight Iran. In fact, it would like to avoid that at any cost,” said Turkish political analyst Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University. “There are too many common interests between the two countries, although that’s never stopped them from competing fiercely in the region.”

    What is most likely, Ozel said, is that Turkey and Iran will revert to the elaborate kind of diplomatic gamesmanship that has characterized the relations between these two regional powers and rivals for centuries.

    “It’s all smiles between Turkey and Iran, but that’s very typical of the relationship between these two countries, which is competition and cooperation wrapped up in a total lack of trust.”

    This article originally appeared at EurasiaNet.org, an Atlantic partner site.

  • Iran, 5+1 to resume talks in Turkey soon: Davutoglu

    Iran, 5+1 to resume talks in Turkey soon: Davutoglu

    Source: Mehr News Agency

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced that Turkey will host new rounds of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) in the near future.

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ahmet Davutoglu

    Ahmet Davutoglu (R) met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran last week

    Davutoglu made the remarks in a recent interview with the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

    Iranian and EU officials have agreed that talks be held in Turkey, Davutoglu stated, noting that the agreement was reached during the meetings he recently held with a number of Iranian officials and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the 5+1 group.

    Commenting on the sanctions that the United States has imposed on the Islamic Republic and a number of European countries’ decision to impose sanctions on Iran, Davutoglu said that Ankara will not comply with such sanctions and sees no limitations hindering the expansion of ties with Tehran.

    Davutoglu made an unannounced two-day visit to Tehran on January 4 and 5, in which he held talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili.

    At a joint news conference with Salehi on January 5, Davutoglu said that he carried a message from Ashton in regard to the resumption of talks.

    “I gave Ashton’s message to Mr. Salehi, the Iranian foreign minister, (and) the Iranian foreign minister also expressed readiness (for dialogue),” he said at the time.

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said on January 3 that Iran is waiting for the 5+1 to suggest a date and venue for a new round of talks.

    “At present, we are waiting for Ms. Ashton to announce her suggested date and venue for the continuation of talks with Iran,” Mehmanparast stated.

    He added, “After receiving the letter of Ms. Ashton, Mr. Jalili will announce his views,” and an agreement would be reached, Mehmanparast stated.

    EU foreign policy spokesman Michael Mann said on December 31, 2010 that the EU is open to meaningful talks with Tehran, provided there are no preconditions on the Iranian side.

    “We continue to pursue our twin-track approach and are open for meaningful discussions on confidence-building measures, without preconditions from the Iranian side,” Mann stated.

    The Iranian ambassador to Germany said on the same day that the next round of talks will be held after Jalili sends a letter to Ashton.

    In late January 2011, a new round of talks between Iran and the major powers was held in Istanbul but no date was set for the next round of negotiations.

    After the end of the Geneva talks in early December 2010, Jalili announced that Iran and the 5+1 group had agreed that the next rounds of talks should focus on common ground for cooperation.

    However, the 5+1 group reneged on the agreement, and after the end of the Geneva talks, Ashton read out a statement saying the nuclear issue would be the focus of the next round of talks, a move which drew strong criticism from Iranian officials.

    The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

    Iran says all its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, and, as an International Atomic Energy Agency member and a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory, it has the legal right to produce nuclear fuel for its research reactors and nuclear power plants.

    … Payvand News – 01/08/12 … —

  • Turkey’s decision to host NATO radar system, a miscalculation: Ahmadinejad

    Turkey’s decision to host NATO radar system, a miscalculation: Ahmadinejad

    TEHRAN – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Turkey decided to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s missile defense system due to a miscalculation.

    c 150 100 16777215 0 images stories oct01 06 02 av28“NATO is seeking to expand its presence in the region and it has made the necessary political and military preparations,” Ahmadinejad stated during a televised interview broadcast live on Iranian television on Tuesday night.

    “The shield will be stationed in Turkey mostly to save the Zionists so that they (the Western powers) will be able to react and prevent Iran’s missiles from reaching the occupied territories in the event they take a military action against Iran and Iran launches a missile attack reciprocally,” the president commented.

    “In the negotiations we held with the Turkish side, we emphasized that it is a wrong measure since the Zionists will ultimately be gone, and such shields will not affect the survival of the Zionists,” Ahmadinejad stated.

    Government not involved in fraud case

    Elsewhere in the interview, Ahmadinejad commented on the recent $2.6 billion financial fraud case and said that the government was not involved in the scam.

    However, certain people have said that the mastermind behind the fraud had links with Presidential Office Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii.

    In addition, 11 lawmakers had filed a complaint with the Majlis Article 90 Committee against the president but later decided not to pursue the complaint after the Supreme Leader advised officials on October 3 to help pursue the case in an atmosphere of calm.

    The president said, “Although the case occurred in the banking system, some thought that they have found an opportunity to settle old scores with Ahmadinejad. However, the government did not have any role in the incident, and the banking system detected the case.”

    Ahmadinejad also said that he will keep silence in the face of criticisms leveled at the government over the financial corruption case.

    He went on to say that pursuing issues relating to the banking system does not fall within the ambit of the administration.

    Ahmadinejad also said that those involved in the case should be seriously dealt with, adding that the three branches of the government are determined to take measures to root out financial corruption.

    On the close-door meeting that the three branches of the government held on Tuesday, he said that the issue of the recent fraud case and a number of other matters were discussed during the meeting.

    via Turkey’s decision to host NATO radar system, a miscalculation: Ahmadinejad – Tehran Times.

  • Iran-Turkey: dueling demagogues

    Iran-Turkey: dueling demagogues

    benny avniBenny Avni

    Here’s a tip for Lee Bollinger, the Columbia University president: If you want to hobnob with the most outrageous guest in town for next week’s UN extravaganza, get hip and call the Turkish mission — because Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmedinejad may no longer be your man. The up-and-comer is Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    They’re rivals in another important sense: Both non-Arab Mideasterners dream of resurrecting glorious empires of yore; both are using hostility to Israel to win regional favor — and both are jockeying for position in Syria, now the region’s weakest link.

    Democratically elected and popular, since his pro-market policies have turned Turkey into an economic powerhouse — Erdogan is eclipsing Ahmadinejad — reviled for mismanagement, economic decline and cruel oppression. (But beware the declining power: Mideasterners often turn to adventurism when they’re pressured at home — and Iran is closing in on an atomic-missile capability.)

    Erdogan this week launched a triumphant Mideast tour, preaching to adoring crowds in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya about the evils of Israel and the West. He also threatened a naval confrontation with Israel, scaring American, European and NATO officials, all of whom are begging Ankara to chill out a bit.

    Meanwhile, the attention-starved Ahmadinejad made a grand “concession” to America, gallantly announcing that he’d free the two US hostages (Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal) long held on flimsy espionage charges — then had to lock horns with Tehran’s judiciary, which no longer fears his authority, in an effort to make good on his promise.

    But the Iran-Turkey power game spreads far beyond such gestures. The most important arena of confrontation is Syria.

    Iran has long propped up President Bashar al-Assad, but has started to distance itself from his rule. Tehran needs Syria too much — especially as a conduit to Hezbollah, its proxy army in Lebanon. Relying solely on the Assads is too risky a bet, so the mullahs are preparing for the morning after.

    As Tehran watcher Meir Javedanfar wrote this week, if Assad falls and a civil war ensues — the now-ruling minority Allawites against the majority Sunnis — “Iran is extremely unlikely to play the part of spectator.”

    Neither is Turkey. Its southern border is bustling with activity as businessmen, troops and opportunity seekers prepare for the day Syria becomes a Turkish protectorate.

    Yet Erdogan after some tough recent statements against Assad, his former ally, is zigzagging again.

    On his first appearance in Cairo this week, Erdogan all but ignored the Syria situation. Even worse, anti-regime Syrian activists accuse Ankara of handing over former Syrian Army Lt. Col. Hussein al-Harmoush to Damascus.

    Harmoush fled Syria months ago and was making tough anti-regime statements from the relative safety of a Turk-protected refugee camp near Syria’s border. Yesterday, Syria announced his detention in Damascus. (Ankara denies sending Harmoush, or any Syrian, back “against their will.”)

    Is Turkey with Assad or against him? Is it backing the pro-democracy rebels or just the Islamists? The answer is that — like Tehran — Ankara’s playing all sides against the middle.

    Incidentally, so does Saudi Arabia: Riyadh is hoping to use its petrodollars to prop up a powerful political ally in post-Assad Syria. But money isn’t enough. In Syria, as in the rest of the Arab Mideast, the dominant powers are once more non-Arabs: The Persians and the Turks.

    Conspicuously missing from this high-stakes Syrian poker table are America and the Europeans — still hiding behind feckless diplomacy and meaningless moralistic statements.

    To his great credit, Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Syria, is constantly siding with pro-democracy forces. But that won’t buy us a seat at a table where everyone else antes up with real resources.

    And the Mideast region is too volatile to leave to the graces of the increasingly dangerous Turks and Persians.

    beavni@gmail.com

    www.nypost.com, September 16, 2011