Rouhani Invites Turkish Counterpart to Visit Iran

(FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a message to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited him to pay an official visit to Tehran in the near future.

Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli in a meeting with President Erdogan in Ankara on Friday submitted President Rouhani’s message to him.

Iran and Turkey have broadened their relations in various fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture in the recent years.

The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months.

Turkey imports more than 90 percent of its oil and gas.

Iran and Turkey are determined to boost their trade exchanges to $35bln in the near future.

Last month, President Rouhani in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Reza Hakan Tekin stressed the need for unity of all the regional countries against Takfiri terrorist groups in a bid to defeat and drive them out of the region, asking Turkey to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and extremism to stop the current bloodshed.

"Bloodshed should be stopped in the region by eradicating terrorism and the present geographical borders should remain intact through respecting the territorial integrity of the neighboring and regional countries," the Iranian president said during the meeting.

The Turkish envoy, for his part, reiterated that resolving the regional problems is impossible without seeking Iran's consultation.

He said that Iran and Turkey might have small differences on some regional issues, "but we believe that the two countries principally share similar views."