BY COSKUN KIRCA
AKSAM- Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iran and Tehran promised to cooperate in the fight against the terrorist group PKK. The real question, however, is whether Iran will keep its promise. The Saadabad Pact was signed between Turkey, Iraq and Iran over 60 years ago. According to this pact, parties shouldn’t provoke the tribes in the region against the members to the pact. Turkey obliged to this rule for over 60 years. Iraq and Iran on the other hand violated this obligation from time to time. Therefore we will see whether Iran will keep its promise.
Turkey doesn’t put forward territorial claims to Iran and wants to improve its friendship and trade with Iran as it does for its other neighbors. Secular Turkey doesn’t have any ambitions about political leadership in the Middle East and is not in any competition with any other country. Turkey is also not attempting to become a model in any field. Also in trade, Turkey makes trade with those countries, which even have hostile attitudes towards it. Iran’s opinion, however, is not the same.
According to Mullahs, Turkey betrayed Islam when accepting secularism. There are other reasons why the Mullahs don’t like secular Turkey. The Turks and Iran fought many religious wars in history.