The Turkish prime minister, a temperamental man, has even lashed out quite harshly at the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials are biting their tongues. But there are mutterings of distrust on both sides.
The biggest problem is Syria. Turkey has become the country leading the charge for the ouster of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, which, if successful, would be an immense blow to Iranian interests. The Islamic Republic is also clearly angry that Turkey agreed to play host to a radar that watches missile launches from Iran. And there has long been friction over Iraq, where Iran backs Shia factions while Turkey advocates for a rival Sunni faction.
One recent episode started when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Tehran in March to meet with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi. News reports said the Turkish leader carried a message from President Obama and lobbied for an Iranian compromise on the nuclear issue.
The Turks have denied that Erdogan carried any letter, but they were not able to deny the acerbic exchange that came in the wake of the visit. At first, Erdogan issued positive statements about his visit, expressed his support for Iran’s right to civilian nuclear power and backed the Supreme Leader’s statement that nuclear weapons violate Islamic law.
“After such a statement from such a person, I cannot claim that Iran is building a nuclear weapon,” Erdogan said. “Does it not have the right to implement a nuclear program for peaceful means?”
But the friendly tones quickly turned sour after Iran said it would rather meet for nuclear talks in Damascus or Baghdad instead of Ankara because Turkey had shown itself not to be neutral in the matter of Syria.
“Taking into account the extremist and illogical position of Turkey on Syria,… Turkey has lost any competence to host the meeting,” Alaeddin Borujerdi, the chair of the Majlis Foreign Affairs Committee, said on state television. “Iranian officials are not interested in Turkey as the host,” he declared.
His remarks were followed by comments from Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani who criticized Turkey for supporting the Syrian opposition and organizing the “Friends of Syria” conference of Assad opponents in Turkey.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry immediately summoned Iran’s ambassador to seek explanation of the comments and contacted the Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi to convey its dismay.
Erdogan did not waste time before retaliating:
“It is necessary to act honestly. They continue to lose prestige in the world because of a lack of honesty,” Erdogan said of Iranian comments.
He also took personal offense for the tone emanating from Tehran. “This is not the language of diplomacy. And that does not suit me.”
His unusually blunt choice of words, however, didn’t end there – he accused Iran of attempting to delay the nuclear negotiations that were slated for April 13. (They were delayed only one day.)
“The offer circulating around, whether Damascus and Baghdad, is all about dragging the feet,” he told a news conference in Ankara. “It’s another way of saying, ‘Let’s not do it.’”
Although the venue of nuclear negotiations is masquerading as an important issue, at the root of Iran’s distaste for Turkey are two fundamental disagreements: Turkey has positioned a NATO missile defense radar on its soil that is intended to detect any Iranian missile launches. Further, Turkey is a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition currently locked in a bloody struggle to topple Assad, Iran’s only ally ruling in the Arab World.
Iran suspects Turkey is using the two issues to its own diplomatic advantage as it bridges the diplomatic disconnect between West and East.
For example, Erdogan touched off speculation that he was carrying a message from President Obama as he embarked on his two-day visit to Tehran only days following a meeting with Obama in South Korea. Days after seeing Khamenehi, Erdogan met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to brief her about his visit with the Supreme Leader.
But after a tense week, Iran seemed to conclude that it had overplayed its hand and backed away.
“Tehran-Ankara strategic ties should not be damaged,” said Ramin Mehman-Parast, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The strategic ties that Mehman-Parast hinted at include trade, which is an increasingly dominant aspect of the relations between the two countries. Mutual trade rose from $1 billion in 2000 to $16 billion last year, and the two countries are hoping to further boost economic exchanges.
Mehman-Parast explained that the two countries were brotherly regional powers and said they agree on most matters.
Iran, once popular in the Arab world for standing up to the United States and Israel, is now on the wrong side of popular sentiment for its support of the embattled Syrian president. On the other hand, Turkey has capitalized on the populist Arab Spring, projecting itself as the better voice of the people in the region and thus diminishing Iran’s standing.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossain-Amir Abdol-lahian said on a recent visit to Beirut that Iran “would not spare any effort” to back Syria. The Iranian press highlighted Turkey’s opposition to Assad’s regime by saying that Erdogan voiced support for the mainly Sunni demonstrators in Syria but remained largely quiet over Bahrain’s brutal crackdown on its mostly Shia protestors.
This gives the Iran-Turkey ties the same sectarian color that characterizes the Shia Islamic Republic’s relations with Sunni Saudi Arabia.