The visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his accompanying delegation met the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei on Sunday, December 3.
Speaking at the meeting, which was also attended by the Iranian First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi, the Leader stated that the Turkish nation is a nation with religious roots, and he referred to the deep faith of the Turkish people in Islam and their firm adherence to Islamic values.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out that the two countries of Iran and Turkey, in view of their common borders and religious and cultural commonalities, are able to further expand and consolidate their relations in various spheres, especially in the economic sector. He added that the expansion of ties with Turkey has always been on the agenda of Iran's foreign policy.
Further in his statements, the Leader of the Islamic Republic hinted at the great capabilities and abundant human and natural resources of the Islamic world.
"If the Islamic world becomes aware of its great power and strong points and tries to solve the major problems facing the Islamic countries by relying on its own power, surely most of those problems will be solved," the Leader remarked.
Ayatollah Khamenei also underlined the significant status of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) as well as other regional organizations such as ECO and the D-8. He stated that the Islamic world should make the most of its capabilities and try to further activate the OIC, ECO and the D-8 so that the problems besetting the Islamic countries may be solved.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Republic touched on the present situation in Iraq, emphasizing that the only solution to Iraq's predicament is the strengthening of the Iraqi popular government. He also described Iraq's disintegration as a great threat to the region.
Ayatollah Khamenei further referred to the role played by the U.S. and Zionist espionage services in fomenting insecurity and the massacre of the innocent people in Iraq.
"The longer U.S. forces stay in Iraq, the deeper they will sink into that quagmire, and if the incumbent U.S. president does not pull U.S. forces out of Iraq, the next U.S. president will surely be forced to do that in disgrace, as the United Stated did in the case of the Vietnam War," Ayatollah Khamenei observed.
Further in his statements, the Leader turned to the events taking place in Lebanon and the occupied Palestine, describing those events as the outcome of the U.S. interventionist policies. He stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran favors cooperation among regional countries aimed at finding solutions to the current problems facing the region.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also speaking at the meeting, said that the expansion of relations with Iran, especially in the economic sector and in the field of constructing refineries and petrochemical factories, is among the priorities of Turkey.
Referring to the fact that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries currently stands at seven billion dollars, the Turkish prime minister voiced Ankara's willingness to increase the trade exchange volume to 10 billion dollars.
Prime Minister Erdogan further touched on the deplorable situation in Iraq and called for greater cooperation among Islamic countries, especially among regional countries, in solving the problems facing the region.