The spokesperson of the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that they attached importance to ties with Iran as Ankara and Tehran respectively summoned top diplomats over an apparent dispute on the Turkish foreign minister’s recent remarks.
The foreign minister has warned that "Iran should avoid doing such a thing" when asked in an interview about the possibility of Türkiye’s eastern neighbor supporting the YPG, a U.S.-backed terrorist group that poses a direct threat to Türkiye. “You shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house. If you seek to stir up a country by supporting a certain group there, you may face a situation where the said country can disturb you by supporting another group in your country,” Fidan told Al Jazeera last month.
Fidan has defined Iran’s policies in the region, to use militias as its proxies, a risky policy. “It costs them more to maintain the gains they have achieved through this,” he said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Türkiye’s Ambassador Hicabi Kırlangıç over Fidan's comments, state TV reported on Tuesday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry published a statement saying that a meeting took place on Monday between Kırlangıç and Mahmoud Heydari, the Iranian Foreign Ministry's director general for the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. "The common interests of the two countries and the sensitivity of regional conditions require avoiding wrongful comments and unreal analyses that could lead to differences and tensions in our bilateral relations," Heydari said.
A day after Iran's move, Türkiye summoned Iran's charges d'affaires in Ankara.
Iranian officials have been voicing criticism of Türkiye more often in public recently, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli said.
"Foreign policy matters should not be used as a tool for domestic politics in any case. In this context, we prefer directly conveying critical messages to another country. We followed this path today," Keçeli said, adding that Türkiye attaches great value to its relations with Iran.
Türkiye and Iran have been at odds historically but, at the same time, pursued close relations at times. In Syria, they have been on opposing sides, with Ankara openly supporting the opposition to the ousted Assad regime, aided by Iran and Russia. Otherwise, they enjoy good relations on a commercial and cultural level.
