Iran, Turkey FMs discuss regional issues

TEHRAN,July 14(MNA) – During a meeting in Ankara on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu discussed bilateral ties and regional issues. Commenting on political developments in the region, particularly the Syrian crisis, Salehi said that it was the Islamic Republic’s principled policy to respect the will of the people in regional countries and emphasized the necessity of responding to the people’s demands within the framework of internal political negotiations and preventing foreign military intervention. On the Egyptian revolution, the Iranian official said the democratic process which had started in the Arab country was an ongoing process that would be consolidated day by day. He also highlighted the importance of respecting the Egyptian people’s right to determine their own destiny and the significance of major regional countries’ constructive policies on regional developments in order to help promote democracy in the region. Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi described as positive the trend of the expansion of ties between the two countries and underscored the need to increase bilateral cooperation in political, economic, and cultural spheres. The Turkish official, for his part, emphasized the importance of the relationship between Tehran and Ankara and called for the two countries’ potential to be utilized in order to deal with regional issues, including the Syrian and Egyptian crises.