2 yıl önce

Türkiye, Iran need to fight against terror groups in solidarity: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says terrorist organisations like PJAK, PKK, FETO are 'troublemakers' for both Ankara and Tehran.

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Erdogan said he believed that the countries will increase the bilateral trade volume to $30 billion.

Ankara and Tehran need to continue fight against terrorist organisations in solidarity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"PJAK, PKK, PYD, YPG, and FETO terrorist organisations are troublemakers both for Türkiye and Iran. We need to continue the fight against them in solidarity.

"As you know, we have now included them in the NATO records. They are troublemakers that disturb the peace in whatever country they are in. Therefore, we need to continue our struggle against them in solidarity," Erdogan said during a news conference with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in the capital Tehran.

For his part, Iranian President Raisi touched on the issue of terrorism, saying "if one organisation opposed a threat to security of our borders and lives of our people, then it means they are terrorists."

"Double standards implemented by the West and discrimination between different terrorist organisations is a topic rejected by Iran," he added.

The two leaders co-chaired the 7th meeting of the Türkiye-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council to enhance bilateral cooperation, and signed a total of eight agreements in the areas of trade, social security, and sports.

On bilateral trade, Erdogan noted that the two countries "faced a serious setback due to the Covid-19 outbreak," with the current trade level standing at $7.5 billion. He said he believed that the countries will increase the bilateral trade volume to $30 billion again.

"It is possible to accelerate this process with the steps that we will take in the defence industry. This can be accelerated with the steps to be taken in both oil and natural gas fields," he added.

Türkiye’s President Erdogan:

- PJAK, PKK, PYD, YPG, FETO terrorist organizations are a serious nuisance to Türkiye and Iran
- They are also recorded as terrorist organisations with an agreement by NATO
- We need to continue the fight against them in solidarity pic.twitter.com/IIA6ZQYOAZ
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) July 19, 2022

Astana talks

Later in the day, Erdogan, Raisi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet for the 7th Trilateral Summit Meeting in Astana format to discuss the latest developments in Syria, and fight against the terrorist organisations, particularly the YPG/PKK and Daesh.

About the trilateral meeting in Tehran, Erdogan said the meeting will be a re-evaluation of the 2017 Astana process.

The Astana process was launched in 2017 to restore peace in Syria, which has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters with unexpected ferocity. 

Regional 'troublemakers'

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK - listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and the EU - has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG and PYD are the PKK terror group's Syrian offshoots. The PJAK is its Iranian affiliate.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Türkiye, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.