{"id":114716,"date":"2023-11-27T10:05:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T15:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=114716"},"modified":"2023-11-27T10:05:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T15:05:44","slug":"iran-leader-to-visit-turkey-as-rapprochement-continues-over-gaza-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2023\/11\/27\/iran-leader-to-visit-turkey-as-rapprochement-continues-over-gaza-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran leader to visit Turkey as rapprochement continues over Gaza war"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"t-content__podcast-header o-podcast-header\">\n<div class=\"o-podcast-header__infos\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"t-content__chapo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-114717 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-150x100.png 150w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-24x16.png 24w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-36x24.png 36w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi-48x32.png 48w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Ebrahim-Raissi.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>RFI \u2014 The Iranian president&#8217;s visit to Turkey this week comes amid deeply strained bilateral tensions as a result of regional rivalries. However, Israel&#8217;s assault on Gaza stands to alleviate those problems as Tehran and Ankara find common ground in condemning Israel, with Turkey also seeking to position itself as a mediator in the conflict.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"t-content__body u-clearfix\" data-empty-p=\"false\">\n<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s withering verbal attacks on Israel have put him on the same page as his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, who is due to visit Turkey on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>But Ankara is also concerned about contagion as the Gaza war draws in countries such as Iran and threatens to destabilise the region.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>&#8216;Demoinising&#8217; Iran<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Turkey does not approve of demonising Iran. It can still have a dialog, and Turkey has the capacity to cooperate with Iran,&#8221; says Bilgehan Alagoz, of the Centre for Iranian Studies, a Turkish thinktank.<\/p>\n<p>Alagoz suggests Erdogan is well placed in his talks with Raisi to keep Iran out of the war: &#8220;Turkey also has a dialog with Israel. While there are problems with Israel, we still can talk with Israel and with others, including the United States and European countries.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/podcasts\/international-report\/20231104-turkey-iran-put-rivalries-aside-as-gaza-conflict-provides-common-ground\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Turkey, Iran put rivalries aside as Gaza conflict provides common ground<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keeping Iran and its proxies out of the conflict is a priority for Israel and Turkey&#8217;s Western allies.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has a major role in arming Hamas, says Gallia Lindenstrauss, an analyst with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is difficult for Israel to concentrate on the Gaza front because the northern front in Israel, the front with Lebanon, is very also very tense,&#8221;\u00a0Lindenstrauss says, adding that, &#8220;of course, the northern front is all orchestrated by Iran&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Raisi in Turkey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Erdogan&#8217;s talks with Raisi aren&#8217;t expected to be confined to the war in Gaza. Until the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, Turkish-Iranian tensions had been rising amid growing regional rivalry, in particular in the Caucasus.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran is alarmed at the military successes of Azerbaijan&#8217;s forces against ethnic Armenians in the disputed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nagorno-Karabakh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nagorno-Karabakh<\/a>\u00a0enclave.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is a strong ally of Armenia and sees Azerbaijan as an increasing threat to its regional influence. However, much to Iran&#8217;s annoyance, Turkey strongly backs Azerbaijan with a military alliance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The recent rhetoric adopted by Iran towards Turkey has created some sensitivity, especially regarding the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/carnegieeurope.eu\/2019\/02\/11\/brief-guide-to-understanding-countries-of-south-caucasus-pub-78306\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">South Caucasus<\/a>,&#8221; says Alagoz.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Since the beginning of Azerbaijan&#8217;s liberation activities for the occupied territory in the South Caucasus, Iran has started to adopt anti-Turkey rhetoric.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international\/20231025-france-announces-sale-of-defensive-weapons-to-armenia-as-turkey-plays-wargames-with-azerbaijan\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">France announces sale of defensive weapons to Armenia as Turkey plays wargames with Azerbaijan<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Battle of influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Analysts also suggest that Tehran is worried Ankara is seeking to limit\u00a0Iran&#8217;s influence across the region. These fears have been stoked by deepening cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey&#8217;s expanding its influence into central Asia is adding to Iran&#8217;s concerns.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Turkey&#8217;s connection to central Asia is still a very serious problem because it&#8217;s going to increase Turkey&#8217;s influence here in the region, which Iran is not happy with,&#8221; says Ilhan Uzgel, a political analyst with the Turkish news portal Kisa Dalga.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran&#8217;s advancing nuclear energy programme is also fuelling bilateral tensions. Turkey is worried that Iran is moving closer to developing a nuclear bomb and triggering a regional nuclear arms race.<\/p>\n<p>But at least for now, the Middle East war and fears that it will spread are bringing the two countries closer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__authors\">\n<div class=\"m-author-n-reading-time\">\n<div class=\"m-author-n-reading-time__authors\">\n<div class=\"m-from-author\"><span class=\"m-from-author__by-label\">By: <\/span><span class=\"m-from-author__name\">Dorian Jones<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFI \u2014 The Iranian president&#8217;s visit to Turkey this week comes amid deeply strained bilateral tensions as a result of regional rivalries. However, Israel&#8217;s assault on Gaza stands to alleviate those problems as Tehran and Ankara find common ground in condemning Israel, with Turkey also seeking to position itself as a mediator in the conflict. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latests"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114716"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114719,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114716\/revisions\/114719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}