Turkey rejects additional chaos in neighboring Iran

With waves rocking several countries in the chaotic Middle East, Turkey does not want another crisis in its neighboring country, experts warned.

"There is already enormous chaos in the region. Turkey would not want another chaos, this time in Iran. There has already been a collapse across the region," Ahmet Uysal, the head of the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM), said.

Arguing that Iran may use the opportunity in these protests to make new reforms, Uysal said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has so far failed in this regard.

"The expectations from Rouhani were great. He, however, does not want to be sour with the establishment because his potential to advance is high," he added.

In a statement released yesterday, the foreign ministry said that Turkey is concerned about the protests in Iran, which turned violent and that the protection of peace and stability in the country is important. It said Iran is a friend and brotherly country to Turkey, which attributes great importance for the preservation of social peace and stability.

"In this context, we believe the statement of President Rouhani that people have a right to peaceful protest but the law should not be violated and that public property should not be harmed should be taken into account, and violence and provocation should be avoided," it said.

"We wish for peace in the country to be ensured, as soon as possible, and that common sense would prevail to prevent the escalation of the incidents, and that provocative rhetoric and external interventions would be avoided," the foreign ministry added in the statement.

As Turkish authorities warned against violence and provocations in Iran, amid ongoing protests that have left 21 people dead, they expressed hope that there will be no foreign intervention in the country.

Experts, meanwhile, said that Turkey's well-balanced stance has been positive.

"I found it well-balanced because the essentials of the protests are ambiguous. It may be a move to destabilize Iran rather than a wide-scale movement of the people as in 2009," said Hakkı Uygur, the deputy chair of the Ankara-based think tank the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM).

Stressing that there were people with weapons and small groups taking part in the protests, Uygur said the events may be different than what they seem on TV screens.

"It was important that Turkey acted with composure," Uygur said, praising Ankara's reaction. Meanwhile on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke to his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif over the phone regarding the latest developments on the protests. The IRAM expert noted that Çavuşoğlu's phone call with Zarif was "very positive."