ANKARA - Turkey's uneasiness over freezing of the right which was granted to Turkish-Austrian Tepe-Akfen-Vie consortium to operate an international airport in Tehran was expressed during meeting of Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, sources said on Monday.
Diplomatic sources said that Ziyal stressed in the meeting that operation of Imam Khomeini International Airport 45 km (30 miles) south of Tehran was the first serious investment by Turkish businessmen in Iran and warned that such investments would not continue if the Turkish company was stripped off the operation right.
Meanwhile, Kharrazi said that a commission had been formed within structure of the Iranian government to solve the issue and they had been trying to solve it, sources said.
Replying to questions of reporters about the issue, Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that there was not an agreement and they would focus on it.
Meanwhile, sources said that Ziyal and Kharrazi also discussed the Cyprus issue and Kharrazi told Ziyal that he believed Turkish Cypriots should have several gains but they were waiting for the report that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would present to the UN Security Council.
Sources added that Kharrazi said they were concerned over developments in Iraq and complained about Iraq's neighboring countries excluding Turkey for not undertaking sufficient active efforts.
The meeting took place in Ankara last night after Kharrazi's plane stopped by Ankara's Esenboga Airport for refueling while flying to Morocco.
(MS-AÖ) 10.05.2004