Turkey and Iran want to enhance trade and political cooperation between the two countries, their leaders have said after a meeting in Tehran. Accompanied by a large delegation of Turkish ministers and businessmen, Turkish President Abdullah Gül arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a four-day visit and held talks with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At a joint press conference, Gül said a preferential trade agreement had to be finalized as soon as possible. Turkey is seeking to triple the trade volume with Iran despite international sanctions imposed on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. Ahmadinejad said trade volume between the two states had surpassed US$10 billion in 2010. "We are determined to boost that figure to as high as US$ 30 billion U. We have both the potential and the political will to that end," he told reporters.
Ankara has developed closer relations with its eastern neighbor since the Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Erdogan came to power in 2002. Turkey was one of the first governments congratulating Ahmadinejad on his re-election in 2009, which was criticized by Iran's opposition over alleged vote fraud. Iran is the second biggest gas supplier of Turkey, and the two countries are cooperating closely in energy field. Turkey's improving bilateral relations with Iran have sparked concerns in the West, which suspects Iran is trying to make nuclear bombs with its nuclear program and fears Turkey, a long term NATO ally with a predominantly Muslim population, is sliding away from the West.
A non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Turkey cast a no vote for further sanctions against Iran in June 2010. Ankara said it would enforce only those sanctions that had been adopted by the Security Council, but rejected further steps such as those taken by the European Union and the United States.
