Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koç visited Tehran in June 2006, meeting Iranian Vice President for Cultural Heritage and Tourism Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral tourism and trade.
Koç noted that one million Iranian visitors traveled to Türkiye in 2005, expressing hope the figure would climb to 1.5 million in 2006. He also highlighted rapid growth in bilateral trade, which rose from 1.2 billion dollars in 2002 to more than 4 billion dollars in 2005, with a target of 10 billion dollars within three years. Tourism, he said, would be central to reaching that goal.
The two sides agreed to form a joint working group on tourism and to encourage the creation of a shared tourism company. Koç noted that citizens of both countries already travel visa-free for stays of up to 90 days.
Mashaie asked Koç to help promote Iranian destinations to Turkish travelers and said Iran hopes to learn from Türkiye's three decades of tourism development. Koç later met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called for stronger tourism infrastructure to deepen relations, citing the shared cultural heritage of both nations.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.