TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani on Monday offered his congratulations to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on his re-election in Sunday’s presidential elections.

In a letter to Erdogan, the Iranian president expressed the hope that the mutual “friendly and brotherly relations” between Iran and Turkey would develop further during Erdogan’s new term by building on cultural, historical and religious affinities between the two neighboring countries.

Rouhani also hoped that Iran and Turkey would establish closer cooperation and pave the way for finding rapid solutions to regional problems.

Erdogan won a new five-year term after securing outright victory in the first round of a presidential poll. He got nearly 53% with almost all votes counted. His closest rival Muharrem Ince was on 31%. 

MH/PA