Tag: Turkey-Iran

  • Turkey Hails Iran’s Envoy for Strong, Constructive Activities

    Turkey Hails Iran’s Envoy for Strong, Constructive Activities

    Turkey Hails Iran’s Envoy for Strong, Constructive Activities

    A0871466TEHRAN (FNA)- Mayor of Turkey’s Northwestern city of Istanbul Kadir Topbas praised the activities of Iranian Consul-General in Istanbul Mahmoud Heidari, and called for the expansion of bilateral ties between the two friendly countries in all arenas.

    The issue was raised in the farewell ceremony of Herdari at the end of his diplomatic tenure in Istanbul as Iran’s consul-general on Friday.

    During the meeting, Topbas appreciated outgoing Iranian diplomat’s efforts to strengthen bilateral ties between two Muslim nations, and hoped for expansion of mutual cooperation between the two states.

    Iran and Turkey have in recent years increased their cooperation in all the various fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture.

    Turkey’s crude imports from Iran leapt in March to 1.17 million tons, rejecting the speculations that Ankara has bowed to US pressures to curb oil trades with Tehran.

    The data was announced by Turkey’s census institute. The center reported that the country’s oil imports from Iran have hit a record in the 8 months before March.

    This is while the Turkish government had earlier promised the US that it would implement a maximum 20% decrease in oil imports from Iran to cooperate with Washington in imposing unilateral sanctions against Tehran.

    Meantime, Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz had earlier said that Ankara is resolved to continue oil imports from Iran despite the sanctions imposed on Iranian oil by the US and the European Union.

    The Turkish minister said in February that his country is only committed to the decisions made by the United Nations in this regard.

    The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months.

    Turkish President Abdullah Gul in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in February underlined the need for the removal of obstacles to the further expansion of bilateral economic ties with Iran in a bid to boost trade cooperation between the two countries.

    “The level of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries does not suit the age-old ties of the two nations and we should remove the obstacles to the development of mutual cooperation between Iran and Turkey,” Gul said at the time.

    via Fars News Agency :: Turkey Hails Iran’s Envoy for Strong, Constructive Activities.

  • New Iranian firms in Turkey stir front company worries for Ankara

    New Iranian firms in Turkey stir front company worries for Ankara

    An unexpected number of Iranian-financed firms set up shop in Turkey in January, a development likely to cause discomfort in Ankara as Iran looks to develop a network of middlemen in Turkey and elsewhere to sidestep crushing international sanctions meant to halt its nuclear program Today`s Zaman reported.

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    There were 28 Iranian-funded foreign companies established in Turkey in January, which ranked just behind German investors, according to a report released by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) on Friday.

    The development continues a trend of an unprecedented number of Iranian-funded firms opening their doors in Turkey since international sanctions against Iran began in earnest two years ago. A previous TOBB report published in September 2012 stated that 651 Iranian-funded foreign companies were established in Turkey in the first nine months of 2012 and a total of 2,140 companies funded by Iran in 2011, other TOBB data show. This was a 40 percent rise over 2010.

    In turn, the trend has caused Ankara worry that potentially illegal activities by those Iranian companies will risk an unwanted confrontation between Ankara and its Western allies over US and EU-imposed sanctions, as well as several UN Security Council resolutions. Many of those firms, which are predominately listed as power generation, electronics and communications companies, are suspected by the US and EU of helping the country procure supplies under embargo.

    It isn’t the only way that Iran has made Turkey its ally against sanctions, though the US this month moved to block another Turkish lifeline to Iran, the “gold for gas” trade which saw Turkey export gold to Iran in exchange for Iranian natural gas and petrol. The trade saw Turkey export around $6.5 billion in gold to Iran in 2012, a more than tenfold increase over the year before.

    But while Turkey has traditionally been defiant about its right to continue that trade, arguing that Iran supplies 30 percent of its daily natural gas supply and it is too large a quantity to fully replace with imports from elsewhere, Ankara is likely to bow to pressure on a new US measure to block sales of precious metals to Iran. The new measure targets Halkbank, which has been used as an intermediary to convert the lira Tehran receives in gas sales into gold accounts. According to Reuters, Iranian couriers are then believed to withdraw gold from those accounts and ship the gold to Iran.

    But while highly visible intermediaries like Halkbank can be targeted, the smaller front firms looking to sneak goods and merchandise under the embargo may be much harder to stop. Previous reports by Today’s Zaman have shown that those companies use a number of poorly regulated intermediaries like Iraq and Pakistan to re-route merchandise from Turkey, or use the porous Esendere border crossing in Yüksekova in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari.

    The TOBB statistics provided by new Iranian firms entering Turkey also suggest that illegal actions may be afoot. A TOBB report in January last year saw 63 Iranian companies register in the month, versus just 36 German companies. Given that Germany’s trade with Turkey is over twice as high for that year, it suggests that many of those companies may indeed be fronts.

    Last January’s numbers also suggest that the overall number of Iranian firms registering in Turkey declined over the year, a trend Former Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mardin deputy Cüneyt Yüksel told Today’s Zaman was likely the result of declining confidence and capital among non-front Iranian firms, expecially in the tourism sector.

    Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Antalya Deputy Mehmet Gunal meanwhile told Today’s Zaman that Turkey and Iran have different views on the Syrian issue, a difference which could also be a contributor to the decline in the number of Iranian businesses.

    Even if Turkey does crack down on suspicious Iranian firms, there are still likely ways Tehran will be able to ship parts critical for its nuclear program through its borders. This weekend a report by nuclear watchdog, the Institute for Science and International Security, reported that Tehran has used China as a conduit for specialized magnets needed to develop nuclear weapons.

    In July of last year Washington took its most notable step to stop front companies from supplying Iran, releasing a list of ships and banks that it said were helping Tehran acquire a nuclear weapon. The US and the EU have worked to freeze financial transactions and to fine companies knowingly doing business with fronts for Iran.

    via New Iranian firms in Turkey stir front company worries for Ankara – Trend.Az.

  • Iran, Turkey unity can solve many regional problems: Envoy

    Iran, Turkey unity can solve many regional problems: Envoy

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    Iran’s outgoing ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour (file photo)

    Iran’s outgoing ambassador to Ankara has described Iran and Turkey as two powerful countries in the region, saying their unity can solve many regional problems.

    “Iran and Turkey can solve many regional problems through unity…but some countries are trying to prevent this,” Bahman Hosseinpour said in a ceremony on Saturday.

    Reflecting on mutual economic ties, Hosseinpour said the expansion of economic relations between the two countries can contribute to further development of Tehran-Ankara cooperation in different areas.

    The outgoing Iranian ambassador also stated that over the past five years, the volume of trade between the two countries has increased from USD5 billion to USD23 billion.

    Iran and Turkey have sharply increased their trade ties over the past years.

    The value of the Iran-Turkey trade exceeded USD16 billion in 2011 and surpassed USD22 billion by the end of 2012.

    According to official data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute in November 2012, Iran was the third major trade partner of Turkey in the first three quarters of 2012.

    Turkey’s imports from Iran hit their highest monthly total in March 2012 at over USD1.63 billion.

    Meanwhile, the highest monthly exports from Turkey to Iran were recorded in July 2012 at more than USD2.15 billion.

    The two countries plan to increase the level of their bilateral trade volume to USD30 billion by 2015.

    AR/SS/SL

    via PressTV – Iran, Turkey unity can solve many regional problems: Envoy.

  • Iran-Turkey Partnership on Ice

    Iran-Turkey Partnership on Ice

     

    Co-authored by Fuad Shahbazov, an analyst in the Turkish think tank Strategic Outlook.

    As early as 2010, Iran and Turkey glittered like two inseparable lovers. It was the most astonishing sort of partnership one could imagine: an infatuation between a (Shia-dominated) theocratic republic opposed to the U.S., on one hand, and an (Sunni-majority) ultra-secularist state belonging to the NATO and aspiring to join the European Union (EU), on the other.

    It was as dreamy as it was baffling. What brought them together was a combination of two factors: (a) Growing assertiveness among rising powers such as Turkey to more independently pursue self-interest and diversify foreign relations (ostensibly away from the West and towards the East and South); and (b) Almost perfect bilateral convergence, albeit temporarily, in strategic foresight and ideology, as Ankara’s Islamist leadership found growing reasons to reach out to its influential and resource-rich eastern neighbor, Iran, which also experienced a period of ‘reformist resurgence’ in the same period.

    All was founded upon a simple but profoundly appealing bargain: Turkey needed Iran for energy security and influence, while Tehran needed its neighbor to reverse growing isolation within the Western order. Thus, after centuries of rivalry, the two Muslim powers finally awakened to their mutual interests amidst much fanfare.

    So what went wrong? Syria!

    It seems that growing disagreements over Syria — exacerbated by frustrations with the pace and tone of nuclear negotiations — has not only put Turko-Persian cooperation on key regional affairs on ice, but also placing the two powers on a collision course.

    It’s the Economy, Stupid!

    The Iran-Turkey partnership hasn’t been an empty flirtation, especially since the election of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey. It has been a blossoming, multifaceted relationship that has covered a whole host of issues, ranging from trade, finance and energy to cultural exchanges and politico-security cooperation, especially on the nuclear question as well as the Kurdish insurgency in common borders with Iraq.

    On the Kurdish issue, the two countries have been involved in a series of joint military and intelligence operations, where Turkish and Iranian security forces are said to have engaged Kurdish separatist groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK).

    More importantly, Turkey shares Iran’s interest in avoiding another possible military confrontation in the region over Tehran’s nuclear program. This explains why Turkey has played a prominent role as a potential ‘intermediary’ in Iran-West nuclear negotiations. Together with Brazil, Turkey did not only broker a ‘nuclear swap deal’ in 2010, but also, in the following year, voted against Western-backed sanctions on Iran in the U.N. Security Council. Since January 2011, Turkey has hosted two major nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers, or the so-called P5+1.

    However, economic issues have played a central role in cementing bilateral ties. Iran is important to Turkey, precisely because the Turkish economy faces serious energy-security concerns. In 2008, Turkey had an import-dependence of 93 percent in oil and 95 percent in natural gas. On top of it, Turkey has an even more serious diversification-problem. In 2005, Turkey imported 66 percent of its gas from one country alone: Russia. Given Russia’s history of using gas as a tool of foreign policy, as a major NATO member Turkey would seriously consider exploring ‘alternative’ sources of energy-imports.

    Iran is both a major natural gas reserve holder and a possible corridor for trans-regional natural gas pipelines connecting resource-rich Caspian states and the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. In turn, Turkey is Iran’s gateway to Europe. This is the regional energy-economic map that both Iran and Turkey have sought to optimize.

    So far, Iran has been Turkey’s second largest supplier of natural gas, with daily gas exports reaching a high of 31.5 million cubic meters in late-2010. In 2011, bilateral trade stood at more than $16 billion, projected to expand up to $30 billion in 2015. Importantly, Turkish companies — prior to the latest series of Western sanctions — were relatively eager to invest in Iran’s vast energy sector.

    And the Skyfall….

    By mid-2011, bilateral relations begun to gradually take a qualitative shift. Coming under increasing Western pressure, Turkey precipitously distanced itself from an increasingly embattled Iran, as the nuclear conundrum proved evermore intractable. Turkey also agreed to station a NATO missile defense shield, ostensibly to neutralize Iran’s ballistic threat — practically nullifying Iran’s prime tactical deterrence against an Israeli-American attack.

    In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) aerospace chief, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, retorted, “Should we be threatened, we will target NATO’s missile defense shield in Turkey and then hit the next targets.”

    This was followed by another incident whereby Iranian security-intelligence personnel temporarily detained and interrogated three Turkish academics on charges of espionage.

    Moreover, under U.S. pressure, Ankara has reduced its Iranian oil import by as much as 20 percent and expressed less willingness to act as a financial intermediary — through the state-owned Halk bank — to process Iran’s multi-billion oil trade deals with countries such as India — in effect, contributing to the economic siege on Iran. Although, recent months have witnessed a dramatic peak in Turkey’s gold exports to Iran, apparently to settle earlier lira-based oil payments to Iran.

    Yet it was the Syrian straw — supposedly the strategic linchpin in Turko-Persian relations — that broke the camel of Iran-Turkey friendship’s back. Back in August, in response to Turkey’s growing support for the armed opposition in Syria and constant opposition to the inclusion of Iran in any multilateral framework to facilitate political transition in Syria, Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi ominously warned Turkey, “it will be its turn [if it continues to] to help advance the warmongering policies of the United States in Syria.”

    This was followed by Iran’s suspension of ‘visa free’ arrangements with Turkey, while Tehran hinted at downgrading security cooperation with Ankara (possibly affecting the Kurdish front).

    In return, Turkish officials have accused Iran of hosting PKK rebels and backing the oppression of people in Syria. Earlier this year, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç went as far as saying his country will do ‘whatever is required’ to counter the Iranian threat, despite incessant efforts by Iran’s foreign ministry to ‘damage control’ and downplay statements from the security branches.

    In August, Turkey also practically boycotted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Tehran by not sending its top representatives, despite a direct letter of invitation by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    While Iran is concerned with Turkey’s so-called ‘neo-ottomanism’ — an ambition to reclaim Turkish historical centrality in regional affairs — Ankara is concerned with Iran’s nuclear ambitions as well as its influence on Syria and other radical/resistance elements. It knows that without Iranian pressure, Assad wouldn’t make drastic reforms. Iran knows that without Turkey, the armed opposition wouldn’t have had as much chance to dismantle the regime.

    With Turkish-Syrian tensions culminating in recent cross-border artillery exchanges, threatening a full-scale war, Turko-Iranian ties came under growing pressure. Iran — along with Russia — has also criticized Turkey’s subsequent plans to host Patriot missile-defense systems, fearing Ankara could also use it against Tehran in the future.

    Overall, depending on how the Syrian conflict unfolds, as well as the dynamics of the Iranian nuclear program, we may enter a renewed phase of confrontation between the two powers after almost a decade of rapprochement.

    Suddenly, the two powers have found themselves on the opposite sides of the fence, occasionally exchanging fiery rhetoric and even threats of direct confrontation. We are also witnessing the unraveling of Turkey’s ‘zero problem with neighbors’ policy.

  • Iran’s Custom Office to Facilitate Border Trade

    Iran’s Custom Office to Facilitate Border Trade

    Iran’s Custom Office to Facilitate Border Trade

    A0135741TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of Iran’s Customs Office Abbas Memarnejad promised to ease the trend of declaration and release of goods in custom offices, particularly at Iran-Turkey border.

    He made the remarks in a meeting with Board of Directors of Association of Iranian Businessmen and Investors in Istanbul.

    Memarnejad underlined that facilitating private sector activities is among the objectives of the government.

    During the meeting, the Iranian businessmen and economic activists talked about their problems and called for stability in regulations, decrease in trade obstacles and facilitating foreign exchange transfer as necessary moves to improve mutual ties.

    In August in line with expansion of private sector’s presence in the country’s economy, Memarnejad announced that the country’s private sector can start exporting Iranian crude supplies.

    “The private sector can run activity in crude oil export by setting up a consortium,” Memarnejad told FNA.

    In relevant move, in last October, Iranian and Turkish officials in a meeting in Ankara explored avenues to further develop mutual cooperation between the two countries in the transit and transportation sector.

    The latest statistical report released earlier this month showed that the trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey had reached $17.52bln since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started on March 20, 2012).

    According to the figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, Iran became Turkey’s third biggest business partner with a trade exchange of $17.52bln since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started on March 20, 2012).

    Turkey imported $8.94 billion in goods from Iran, and exported $8.58 billion in goods to the Islamic Republic during this period.

    Trade between Turkey and Iran has risen sharply over the past decade.

    Turkey was Iran’s fifth-largest oil customer in 2011, buying around 200,000 barrels per day, 30 percent of its total imports and more than 7 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

    The two countries’ officials plan to mutual trade to $30bln by 2015.

    via Fars News Agency :: Iran’s Custom Office to Facilitate Border Trade.

  • Turkey-Iran cold war

    Turkey-Iran cold war

    By Emre Uslu

    Monday, 03 September 2012

    Emre Uslu

    43524 3120Recent news reports indicate that Turkey and Iran have entered into a new cold war. Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç openly criticized the Iranian regime and said: “I am disappointed with the Iranians’ attitude. Turkey was sharing intelligence with Iran concerning the PKK, but Iran did not help Turkey know more about PKK units on Iranian territory.” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also criticized Iran in recent months.

    In the last two weeks, Turkish media have started reporting about Iranian intelligence activities. The Türkiye daily, for instance, reported in a lead story on how Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was disappointed by its Iranian counterpart. Following that piece of news, police in the border province of Iğdır conducted an operation in which they arrested nine people –two Iranian and seven Turkish citizens –allegedly working for Iranian intelligence and sharing information about strategic infrastructure.

    These nine agents and informants were allegedly looking for strategic targets and conveying the information on to the PKK, and the PKK was acting on the information. There was indeed a noticeable increase in PKK activity in and around Iğdır and its neighboring province of Ağrı.

    Those who closely follow the PKK’s activities know that there is no strategic reason for the PKK to intensify its activities in a remote corner of Turkey, its eastern provinces, where most of the population does not support the PKK anyway. PKK activities in this area intensify when the PKK calculates a strategic gain. For instance, the PKK deployed 1,000 militants here back in 1993 because Turkey and Azerbaijan had agreed at the time to build a crude pipeline which goes through this region.

    The PKK deployed its militants in this region to prevent the building of the pipeline at that time. Indeed, because of PKK activities, the cost of insurance increased and the route for the pipeline was eventually changed. One of the reasons was increased PKK activity.

    The second period during which the PKK increased its activities in this region was late 2006, 2007 and 2008. In this period, the PKK intensified its activities and mostly targeted a Turkey-Iran natural gas pipeline nearby the town of Doğubayazıt. This period was very critical for the PKK because the PKK was seeking international support to maintain its existence. When we look at the timing of the attacks, there is a strong correlation between the timing of Turkey’s efforts to sign contracts with Iran to invest in Iranian natural gas fields and the PKK’s attacks.

    This is the third time that the PKK has increased its activities in this strategic location; however, unlike in 2007 and 2008, this time the PKK did not target the strategic infrastructure that is the Turkey-Iran pipeline. To those who closely monitor the PKK’s activities, its decision to not target the Turkey-Iran pipeline itself says a lot about possible Iranian support of the PKK.

    When we read media reports about Iranian intelligence activities, the PKK’s increased activities on the Turkey-Iran border, the PKK’s cease-fire with Iran, and Turkish and Iranian officials’ statements about each other, we can easily argue that Turkey and Iran are in a cold war.

    Unfortunately, in this war, the Iranian side is in a more advantageous position than Turkey. On the economic front, Turkey depends on Iranian natural gas in the coming winter, which Iran will use against Turkey. Iran considered Turkey an area in which to conduct economic activity while the rest of the world sanctions Iran. Indeed, the Turkish press reported that between January and July Iran had imported gold from Turkey worth $7 billion. On the economic front, both parties have tools that can harm the other.

    On the political front, however, Iran has more tools to use against Turkey. Given the fact that Iran is a country best known for its proxy wars, Iran would use tools such as the PKK, and to some degree the Kurdish Hizbullah and other sleeper cells pretending to be Islamists in this country, to destabilize Turkey. Turkey, however, has very limited groups inside Iran which it could mobilize against the Iranian regime. Furthermore, Turkey does not know how to wage a protracted proxy war.

    Moreover, there are influential intellectuals among the Islamists, even in the Cabinet, and members of Parliament who have sympathy towards Iran. For this very reason the government, despite the warnings from inside and outside, insists on its policies to support Iran in the international arena and to keep the doors of economic activity open.

    Thus, Iran can easily destabilize Turkey if Turkey further deepens the cold war with Iran.

    (Published in Turkey’s Today’s Zaman on Sept. 3, 2012)