ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sukru Sina Gurel left on Saturday for Iran for a one-day official visit upon invitation of his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi.
Gurel told reporters that Iran was an important neighbouring country of Turkey having significant potential and rooted state tradition.
Turkey was pleased to have cooperation in many fields with Iran, Gurel said.
Gurel hoped that his visit would help further improvement of bilateral relations and said that he would have a meeting with Kharrazi and be received by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
He would return to Turkey on Sunday, Gurel stated.
Asked if Iraqi issue would be taken up during his visit, Gurel said, ''of course all regional issues are debated among regional countries.''
When he was reminded about the views that regional approaches should be given priority in Turkish foreign policy and asked if his visit was within this framework, Gurel said, ''our government and prime minister have noted that we follow a region-centered foreign policy for many times. I think that Turkey should attribute importance to regional relations and thus, it will gain global importance.''
Gurel added, ''Turkey has very close relations with the United States and western countries. These relations are not an obstacle before further improvement of our regional relations. When regional issues gain importance, there is nothing more natural than attributing importance to our relations with regional countries.''