Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad arrived in the Turkish largest city of Istanbul on Thursday on a working visit for nuclear talks, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Tight security measures have been taken for the visit of Ahmadinejad, according to the report.
Ahmadinejad's visit aimed at escalating tension between Tehran and the West due to Iran's controversial nuclear program.
Describing its role in this dispute as "facilitator," Ankara is planning to tell the Iranian leadership that "Tehran has the right to have nuclear activities for peaceful purposes," while also listing a series of "suggestions" for ending the dispute.
Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005, had constantly conveyed his desire to Ankara for paying an official visit to Turkey. However, Ankara did not respond positively until Gul was elected to the presidency in 2007.
The visit is against the backdrop that six major countries recently agreed to consider new sanctions against Iran in the wake of remarks by the West saying Iran failed to give a "clear positive response" to their latest offer of incentives.
On Wednesday, Mottaki said in Tehran no one should see a bad intention behind the fact that Ahmadinejad's meetings with Turkish officials will take place in Istanbul, rather than in Turkey's capital.
"Both the Iranian and Turkish presidents' programs were very hectic. The dates of the visit which we wanted to pay before Ramadan starts matched with the dates during which President Abdullah Gul is in Istanbul," Mottaki explained.
"Iran is respectful of Turkey's values," he was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.
Mottaki's remarks were an apparent reference to some media reports emphasizing that the visit would not be an "official visit," but be arranged as a working visit due to the unwillingness of the Iranian president to visit Anitkabir, the mausoleum of the Turkish Republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
According to the customary protocol of official visits to Turkey, the visiting party pays homage to Ataturk by visiting the mausoleum. Nevertheless, there is no such procedure on a working visit.
Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding on July 13, 2007, allowing the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to pump 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the giant South Pars gas field.
The agreement between Turkey and Iran would allow for the transport of Iranian natural gas to Europe as well as the transfer of Turkmen natural gas to Europe via Iran and Turkey.
Turkey is completely dependent on energy imports to quench its increasing thirst for oil and gas as its industry expands. Iran is currently its second biggest supplier of gas after Russia. Turkey is also a major transit route for goods between the European Union (EU) and Iran.
The Israeli and U.S. leaderships have been closely following developments concerning Ahmadinejad's visit to Turkey.
Israel, considering Iran as its main enemy, has officially protested via diplomatic means against the planned visit of Ahmadinejad to Turkey, according to Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper.
Source:Xinhua
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