President Gül Hosts Dinner in Honor of President Rouhani
09.06.2014
Hosting an official dinner in honor of President Rouhani of Iran at the Çankaya Presidential Palace, President Gül pointed to the importance of the state visit by his Iranian counterpart in that it is the first Presidential visit from Iran to Turkey in 18 years and declared the Turkish and Iranian peoples to be two old friends and brothers, adding: “Our relations take their strength from our values that have enriched each other throughout history and from the deep human and cultural bonds between our peoples.”
President Abdullah Gül hosted an official dinner in honor of President Hassan Rouhani of Iran at the Çankaya Presidential Palace,
HISTORICAL FRIENDS AND BROTHERS
Evincing his pleasure to welcome President Rouhani and his delegation to Turkey, President Gül wished Iran’s national football team success during the World Cup to be kicked off in Brazil in a few days. “Our countries are neighbors as well. Our relations take their strength from our values that have enriched each other throughout history and from the deep human and cultural bonds between our peoples. As for the history of the Turkey-Iran border, which has not been changed since 1639, it is older than the histories of most countries indeed. This nearly 400-year-old border is one of the few borders that were determined without an external intervention in our region. This very valuable feature serves as a treasure in terms of carrying further our relations today as well.”
“WE SHOULD DIVERSIFY TURKISH-IRANIAN TRADE RELATIONS”
Sharing his happiness at observing the great momentum achieved in recent years through mutual high level visits, President Gül expressed his belief that the state visit by President Rouhani will make great contributions to the development of the bilateral relations between the two countries for the sake of the common interests of the two peoples. The President then pointed to the huge potential for cooperation in such areas as the economy, trade, transportation, energy, construction and tourism and underscored the importance that Turkey and Iran diversify the trade relations they enjoy.
CULTURAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES
President Gül further reiterated the significance of taking the necessary steps to strengthen the existing human bonds between the Turkish and Iranian peoples and maintained that intensifying the activities of the cultural centers of both countries on such areas as language, literature, film making and architecture will be the most important investments that could be made in the future of the bilateral relations between Turkey and Iran. “The exhibition entitled ‘The 10.000 Years of Iranian Civilization-The 2.000 Years of Our Common History’ that we held at the Topkapı Palace Museum in cooperation with the National Museum of Iran demonstrated once again to the thousands of people who explored the exhibition that we are well aware of the importance of our relations today as well.”
The High Level Cooperation Council that will be held for the first time on the occasion of this visit will enable both countries to advance their cooperation involving all these areas in a sytematic framework, the President predicted. He further pointed out that the advancement of Turkish-Iranian relations in close cooperation and on a healthy ground is of great importance for peace, stability and prosperity in the region as well. Therefore, he said, the constructive steps that will be taken in this direction will serve as the strongest response to the ethnic and sectarian-based separation scenarios.
COOPERATION AREAS IN FOREIGN POLICY
President Gül further reiterated that President Rouhani’s speech at the 68th General Assembly of the UN entitled ‘A World Against Violence and Extremism’ was a very important step in this regard. Turkey has supported this vision, he said. The President also drew attention to the fact that Turkey and Iran enjoy close cooperation in many platforms such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Economic Cooperation Organization and D-8 all of which consolidate the union and solidarity among the Islamic world, pointing to other multilateral initiatives like the Afghan-based Istanbul Process through which both countries also collaborate.
“REGIONAL PEACE WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH SINCERE CONTRIBUTIONS”
President Gül continued his speech with the following words: “Ending the ongoing tragedy in Syria, establishing stability in Iraq, overcoming threat of terrorism and immigration problems and achieving a fair and permanent resolution in the Palestine Question within the framework of the Middle East Peace Process can all be possible only through the sincere, constructive and common contributions of us all. In the face of all these problems, it takes a visionary approach to exert our rich natural human resources for the enhancement of our development and prosperity not for conflicts. Such a vision should include the establishment of the necessary mechanisms in our region for the good neighbor policy, non-interference in domestic affairs and cooperation and solidarity spirit on the basis of respecting borders.”
Furthermore, the President noted, such a vision should also involve carrying the peoples to a fairer environment based on the human rights through economic and political reforms. With their strong state traditions, Turkey and Iran, two countries which are the heirs of two deep-rooted civilizations, have the necessary sagacity and common sense to show such a regional vision.
President Gül ended his speech as follows: “With the resolution of the problem pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program, it will be a lot easier to reap the benefits of our efforts in this direction. The successful negotiations you have been conducting regarding this issue serve as an important window of opportunity so that a peaceful resolution can be reached. In this vein, I would like to reiterate my belief that our relations which have gained considerable momentum in recent years will continue to develop in all areas. I regard Your Excellency’s words: ‘Let’s end extremism. We have no other option than moderation’ as a reverberation of the great philosophy of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, whois one of the symbols of our common cultural heritages. I wish Your Excellency, your delegation and the people of Iran health, every happiness and well-being.”
