TEHRAN – Two weeks after the July 15 coup, the Tehran Times sat face-to-face with Turkish ambassador to Tehran Riza Hakan Tekin to hear his remarks about a number of domestic and international issues. 

The Turkish ambassador said his country’s differences with Iran and Russia over regional issues are more of “methodological” nature. He said all parties should join hands to end the regional mayhem. 

The first part of the interview was published in the Tehran Times July 23 issue. Read more here http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/404787/Failed-coup-strengthened-Turkish-unity-ambassador . Following is the second part of the interview: 

Q: How do you think the incoming visit to Moscow of President Erdogan will influence Turkey’s foreign policy, particularly with regard to regional issues? 
A: We have a saying in Turkey and you may have a similar one in Persian. From a very bad thing a good thing comes up. This applies to our domestic affairs as well as international relations following the coup. One can only be hopeful and nobody knows what will happen. Before the coup, we had already decided to rectify our relations with Russia and to re-establish our close relations. Our prime minister sent a letter to President Putin and he replied back and so on so forth. Hence, the ground was already laid for a re-establishment of close relations with Russia. For us, the Russians’ clear position on the coup was very important. We appreciate it because they were very clear and helpful for our democratically elected government.
It gives us more hopes for bilateral relations with the Russian Federation. Regarding what we can do together to solve existing regional problems, I should say the situation is affecting everyone, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, and even Europe where terrorist blasts are reported daily. Hence, nobody is immune from the instability in the region.
As a regional country and as I stressed a short while, we share borders with Syria and Iraq, where Daesh is ruling a big chunk of territory. Hence, this is first and foremThe Turkish ambassador to Tehran says Ankara has differences with Russia and Iran on regional issues but these differences may be more of a methodological nature with regard to achieving a certain goal.ost in our interest to re-establish security, stability, and peace in these two countries. So, we not only want to work with Russia, but with Iran also we want to work. I have been reiteratively saying that we are very happy with the Iranian position with regard to the coup and it showed the friendly relationship between Iran and Turkey. We trust each other even in hard times unlike some other countries which showed hesitation. Of course we have differences: differences with Russia and Iran on regional issues. Those differences may be methodological with regard to achieving a certain goal. Our objective may be much more similar than we thought to be. So, we have to make efforts but all together to minimize differences and bridge regional gaps. We need to increase our friends both inside and outside Turkey and we also hope this will bring about a positive environment in the region. But, it’s not easy and we shouldn’t be naïve. The problems we are dealing with in the region are complicated and there are no quick fixes. It will be a very long process. The important thing is to show willingness and propose clear, concrete steps to work in that direction. Unfortunately, we are not at that stage yet as an international community.  

 Q: The Turkish economy has been negatively influenced by regional developments over the past years. What are your future plans to boost the economy? 

A: Obviously, the situation in Syria and Iraq has been unstable over the past years and this will affect us, too. We share more than 1,300-km borders with the two countries. The two are also are on our transit route to other Middle East countries. So, instability in these countries has influenced our country beyond security issues. But, having said that, the Turkish economy is still sound and strong. We have been continuing to develop our economy and inflation is still single-digit. Our economy never shrank. It, for instance, posted 4.8 percent growth during the first quarter of the current year amid regional developments and the crisis we had with Russia which seriously affected our tourism industry. Therefore, when you look at economic indicators, you see indexes such as trade balance are positive still. Of course, we have some challenges to face and our government is taking measures to overcome those challenges. But, I should say many countries if they had suffered such coup with the regional background, their economies might have collapsed. We never saw that. Foreign investments, for instance, were not withdrawn or the Turkish people did not rush into banks and just the opposite, according to our economy minister, the Turkish people started selling dollars to buy Turkish liras, as much as $9 billion just in one day. This shows our people have also trust in our economy. So, we are not in a desperate economic situation and although we face challenges, we are performing much better compared to other regional countries. 
Q: Some believe that President Erdogan is a populist. What is your view of this? 
A: In what way you mean?! I think he is a very charismatic leader. Even those who oppose the president are affected by his speeches. And this is because of his leadership quality. I mean you may like him or may not. But many believe in this leadership quality and public appeal. That’s why he is very popular. Populism is a different story. Every so often, some politician figures or leaders may use it to strengthen their support. But I think rather than calling him a populist, we do more justice if we call him a very charismatic leader. 

AK/PA