Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is set to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a visit to Ankara on Jan. 4 for talks likely on the situations in Gaza and Syria and bilateral ties, according to a Turkish official on Tuesday.
The official also said that a planned visit by Raisi in late November was postponed due to the conflicting schedules of the foreign ministers of the two regional powers. At the time, Türkiye’s foreign minister was in New York as part of a “contact group” of Muslim countries in Gaza.
Türkiye, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire, and said Israeli leaders should be tried in international courts for war crimes since it launched its air and ground assault on Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian resistance group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Unlike its Western allies and some Arab nations, NATO member Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist group.
The two leaders previously discussed over the phone steps for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, with Erdoğan stressing the importance of the Muslim world adopting a “common stance against Israeli atrocities.”
Türkiye and Iran have usually had complicated ties, standing at loggerheads on a host of issues, primarily the 12-year Syrian civil war. Ankara politically and militarily backs opposition forces looking to oust President Bashar al-Assad, while Tehran supports his government.
While several rounds of talks have been held between Syrian, Turkish, Iranian and Russian representatives to find a political solution to the war, Ankara has also moved to improve ties with Assad as part of a regional diplomatic push launched in 2020.
