Iranian FM in Turkey for Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony

TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (MNA) – Iran’s FM arrived in Ankara on Thursday to attend the inauguration ceremony of Turkish president-elect Erdogan. Mohammad Javad Zarif left Tehran to Ankara Thursday morning and was received by Turkish officials at the airport. Zarif will attend the inauguration ceremony of Turkish president-elect Erdogan and is scheduled to have bilateral and trilateral meetings with several officials on the sidelines of the ceremony. The presidents of several countries including Albania, Benin, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldavia, Turkmenistan, Togo, Ukraine, Somalia, and the foreign ministers and parliament speakers of 60 other states are attending the event. Turkey held its first presidential election with direct popular vote on August 11. In an anticipated victory, Erdogan received 52 per cent of votes to defeat Ekmeleddin Mehmet İhsanoğlu and Selahattin Demirtaş. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in a phone conversation with Turkish president-elect Erdogan congrtulated him and called for expansion of bilateral and regional cooperation; he also expressed hope to witness further expansion of relations and cooperation between Iran-Turkey during Erdogan’s tenure. Zarif will leave Turkey for Moscow to meet with Russian top-ranking officials to discuss different subjects including nuclear issue.