Minister Fidan held a joint press conference with his counterpart Emirabdullahiyan in Iran, where he is on an official visit. Minister Fidan stated that Turkey and Iran are big countries in the region and have the responsibility to ensure peace and stability, and said: "We also exchanged views on regional issues. As you know, Turkey and Iran are two big countries of this region. This greatness brings with it responsibility. This responsibility is a responsibility that obliges us to ensure peace and stability in our region. We discussed our issues within this framework. We discussed Syria, Iraq, Palestine, South Caucasus, Yemen and Afghanistan, as well as Ukraine and Libya. We also discussed what can be done in more depth about Syria. You know how clear our position on Syria is as Turkey. Our expectations from the Syrian government and our cooperation with them are clear. In particular, these are the Syrian government's taking steps to ensure that the refugees in our country return to their countries safely, voluntarily and honourably. To take measures to prevent additional refugees from coming to our country, and thirdly and finally, to attach importance to cooperation with our country in the fight against terrorism, especially in eliminating the PKK terrorism, and to work with us to remove the PKK terrorism from the Syrian agenda. These are indispensable issues for us. They also have their own sine qua non, we understand them. We are discussing our issues in a 4-way format, especially with the participation of Iran and Russia."

"CRISES SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF CO-OPERATION WITH IRAN"

Minister Fidan pointed out that the developments and crises in the region demonstrate the importance of Turkey-Iran cooperation and said: "The developments and crises in our geography demonstrate the importance of our cooperation with Iran every day. We wish to carry our bilateral relations further through institutionalized dialogue mechanisms such as the High Level Cooperation Council. As you know, we are waiting to host Mr Reisi in our country for the 8th High Level Cooperation Meeting. God willing, they will come to Turkey and meet with our President. Today, within the scope of the preparations for this meeting, we held productive talks with my brother Hussein. We confirmed our desire to further develop our bilateral and regional cooperation with an understanding of mutual benefit. We discussed and shared our views on many issues such as common border security, counter-terrorism, transport, higher education. We also conveyed our expectations to each other on the fight against terrorism. We especially raised our sensitivities regarding the elimination of the PKK-PJAK threat."

"OUR TRADE VOLUME IS ON AN UPWARD TREND"

"Our bilateral trade volume tends to increase after the pandemic," said Minister Fidan, "We discussed the steps to be taken to maintain this momentum. In order to reach the $ 30 billion target, we discussed in detail and at length what the concrete issues could be. We shared the positions of our countries, the preparations we have made and our ideas on many different issues such as border trade, agriculture, animal husbandry, energy, logistics routes. We also discussed in a very positive way how the problems faced by our companies and citizens can be overcome. We will discuss all these in detail at the Joint Economic Commission Meeting we will organise in the near future. We also touched upon our cooperation in the field of energy and regional development projects. There is a strong desire on both sides to resolve various bilateral issues through dialogue on the basis of mutual understanding, good neighbourliness and cooperation. All our friends are working in this way," he said.

"ATTACKS AGAINST ISLAM HAVE INCREASED IN EUROPE"

Minister Fidan also discussed the issue of Islamophobia with his counterpart Emirabdullahiyan and emphasised that attacks against Islam have increased especially in Europe and that these are deliberate. Fidan continued his speech as follows:

"We discussed the issues related to Islamophobia with my dear friend. As you know, recently, especially in Europe, attacks against our holy book, the Holy Quran, and our sacred values have increased. They do this in a somewhat deliberate way. As two Muslim countries, we have exchanged views on what we can do and what kind of attitudes we can take within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Also, as Turkey, we support the agreement reached between Iran and Saudi Arabia. We said this when it was first made. We are saying it now too. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey are the strong, big and responsible countries of the region. The peace and stability of these countries is of utmost importance for the peoples of the region. We also find it important that the negotiations on the Nuclear Agreement continue. I would also like to thank them for this. They shared the latest developments with us."