Turkish PM officially welcomed by Iran's VP

Visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan was accorded official welcome by Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi here on Tuesday morning.

During the welcoming ceremony, the national anthems of the two countries were played and then the two officials reviewed the guard of honor.

Following the ceremony, bilateral talks on issues of mutual interest started between Rahimi and Erdogan at the Presidential Palace.

Erdogan, heading a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Tehran Monday night on a two-day official visit and was welcomed by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.

Erdogan who arrived in Iran after his visit to Pakistan had earlier said in Islamabad that during his Tehran visit he would discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments with Iran.

During his visit, the Turkish premier is to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, Foreign Minister Mottaki and a number of other senior officials of the country.

He is also expected to attend Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Meeting and participate in a press conference.

The Turkish energy minister, minister of foreign affairs as well as 20 parliament members, over 80 private sector representatives and 35 major Turkish media reporters are among members of Erdogan’s delegation to Tehran.

During the visit, Iran and Turkey are to sign five to seven documents on bilateral cooperation in such fields as energy, judiciary, health, trade and security.

Tehran and Ankara are determined to increase the level of bilateral trade from the current dlrs 12 billion to dlrs 20 billion in the next two years.

President Ahmadinejad and Erdogan held talks on the sidelines of the 64th UN General Assembly meeting in New York last month.


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