Erdogan meets Ahmedinejad and Khamenei

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the second day of his visit to Tehran on Thursday. The meeting was closed to the press and no statement has been made regarding its content yet. The meeting was previously scheduled for Wednesday evening, but postponed to yesterday, as Ahmadinejad reportedly fell ill. According to an official statement by IRNA, the official Islamic Republic News Agency, Ahmadinejad praised Turkey for its "clear and frank" stance, saying Tehran and Ankara have historically propped up each other on global matters. "Iran and Turkey have stood by each other on most of the international scenes and have always independently and seriously confronted the imperialism of Westerners and arrogant powers, which never want countries like Iran and Turkey to progress and become powers on the global stage. Thus, we have to be vigilant in the face of their plots," Ahmadinejad said. Furthermore, Erdogan was quoted as saying in the statement that the Turkish government and nation have always clearly supported the nuclear positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will continue to firmly follow the same policy in the future. Following his contacts with Ahmadinejad, Erdogan met with Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The bilateral and inter-delegation meetings lasted for two hours. Speaking at the meeting, Khamenei said that he was terribly disturbed by the bloodshed in Syria, but expressed controversy over any foreign intervention in Syria's conflict. Khamenei said that Syrian people should determine its own future through elections, adding that he was in favor of holding the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Istanbul. The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, Environment and Urbanization Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Omer Celik, AKP deputy Yalcin Akdogan and National Intelligence Agency (MIT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan. After completing his talks in Iran, Erdogan returned to Ankara yesterday. Speaking to reporters at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Erdogan said that although Syria has accepted UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan, killings in that country have not ended. Erdogan reiterated that all sorts of instability in the region would create an impact all the countries in the region. Stating that he has clearly mentioned this during his talks with Iranian officials, Erdogan added, "We have once again confirmed our consensus on the issue. Besides, we have showed our determination to continue our joint efforts with Iran, which is our neighbor and friend, in order to ensure stability and development in our region."