Iran, Turkey sign security MOU

Iranian and Turkish officials have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in an effort to promote their security cooperation.

The agreement was signed by Abbas Mohtaj, Iran's deputy interior minister for security and political affairs, and Turkey's Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Gunes at the 12th Iran-Turkey High Security Commission meeting in Ankara. "The increase in some terrorist activities in the region damages both countries, and the most effective way to tackle this problem is intelligence and security cooperation," the MOU says. During the two-day meeting, the two neighboring countries discussed measures to deal with the threats posed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), a PKK offshoot operating in Iran. Meanwhile, the two countries' officials agreed to have the next meeting of the Turkey-Iran High Security Commission next April in Tehran. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community, including the European Union and the United States. The Islamic Republic has slammed the White House for supplying PJAK to stir up ethnic unrest in the country. (PressTV)

May 2006: Gurcan Turkoglu, Turkish ambassador to Iran, stressed Iran’s right to make peaceful use of nuclear energy, saying, “The Turkish government believes that the nuclear issue can be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.”

Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Expediency Council Chairman, turning to the situation in Iraq and Palestine, said that Tehran and Ankara have common concerns over regional security problems. (Turkish Weekly)