Turkish-Iranian ties have always been a love-hate relationship where at times Turkey has defended Iran fervently against the West while at times Turks have been up in arms claiming Iran is trying to export its Islamic revolution to Turkey and that while it fights Kurdish extremism it continues to pay lip service to the PKK.
What is true is that the Iranian people are our historical friends with whom we have deep historical, cultural and religious relations and that rivalries and disagreements may prevail at the state level but in essence nothing can really hurt the fraternal bonds that exist.
President Hasan Rouhani's visit to Turkey is his first since he became a head of state in 2013. It is significant because any state visit from Iran is more than significant and will no doubt set the stage for understanding each other better in view of the array of political problems that exist between Ankara and Tehran.
The fact that Rouhani is regarded as a moderate politician in Iranian standards is also a source of hope that he can set the stage to ease some of the disagreements between Turkey and Iran. High natural gas prices that Iran charges Turkey is the least of our problems.
While Iran has moved to improve its ties with the West it has not been able to do much to solve the disagreements between Ankara and Tehran on Syria and an array of other issues, such as Turkey's support for the Arab spring and its opposition to the current dictatorship in Egypt, because fundamentally the two sides approach the issues from a completely opposite angle.
Add to this the fact that the superior decision makers of Tehran view Ankara with suspicion as they see Turkey as a rising star. In the past Tehran regarded Turkey as a Western-oriented country that hardly had any impact on the Middle East. But the "new Turkey" with its rising economy and democratic successes and its pro-Islamic sensitivities has become an influential player in the Middle Eastern equation and that has irked decision makers in Tehran. The fact also that Turkey's brand of Islam and its democracy is influencing the streets in Tehran is also a source of discomfort for Iran.
So Rouhani is clearly here to make an impact and push relations to a new phase but whether the influential decision makers of Tehran allow him any headway remains to be seen. But at least we can agree to disagree.
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