Turkey must change course in its foreign policy: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Foad Izadi, professor at University of Tehran, to discuss the remarks made by Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, stressing the importance of holding more consultation between Iranian and Turkish officials to find peaceful solutions to ongoing crises in the region.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: I’d like to look at some of the comments. We have seen that Turkish President Erdogan has said that there are attempts to pit regional countries against each other by fanning ethnic conflicts. I’d like your take on that especially as it seems that Turkey itself is taking a very, very active role in actually being very problematic in the region. How do you see it sir?

Izadi: Well the rhetoric that is coming out of Ankara is understandable. I think the Turkish government is realizing that it is failing in its foreign policy. When the current government came into power, they had a slogan; they had this idea of having good relations with all of their neighbors. In reality they see that they are fighting all of their neighbors. They are fighting Syrians, they are fighting Iraqis, they have difficulties with the European Union and they are trying to fight Iran which is very problematic because as you quoted Iran’s first vice president, the current Iranian government is not interested in a fight with the Turkish government.

There are some economic reasons for that. Both countries are exchanging a lot of goods and services and they do not want to jeopardize that especially Iran feels that they should keep the current economic cooperation and exchanges with Turkey but unfortunately the Turkish government has decided to support ISIS (Daesh). In practice we see that almost all of ISIS fighters that are coming out of Europe and other countries are passing through Turkish borders. The Turkish government has decided to sell the Syrian and Iraqi oil that ISIS has access to for them in international markets and that is financing ISIS’s terrorist activities in both Syria and Iraq.

So because of the activities that the Turkish government has conducted, you see some of Turkish government’s best friends in the United States are actually questioning Mr. Erdogan’s foreign policy. They are also fighting Russia in more recent weeks and I think what needs to happen is for Mr. Erdogan and his cabinet to basically review what they are doing in terms of foreign policy because the road that they have chosen is actually going to lead to nowhere nice and I think they need to consider that.

Press TV: Don’t you think that the road that has been chosen is basically a collision, one with lot of regional countries perhaps including Iran and we see now with Iraq and of course we have seen with Syria and on the other hand we have seen Russia? Is there anything else but collision if Turkey continues on the path that is going?

Izadi: Well Iran is practicing patience as we speak. Iran is not interested in a fight with Turkey. I am not sure if Mr. Putin is as patient as Iranian leaders and I think the Iraqis are basically questioning what Mr. Erdogan is doing in northern Iraq. They are opposing the invasion that he has. You remember what happened a couple of weeks ago, a Russian airplane was shot down for violating Turkish airspace, apparently this is Turkish claim, for 17 seconds and the Turkish government responded to that by shooting down the airplane.

Now for many months now, the Turkish troops have invaded northern Iraq and the Iraqi government is asking these troops to leave the country and Mr. Erdogan is not ready to do that. So you see a lot of inconsistencies in what Mr. Erdogan is saying and what he is doing and I hope they change course.

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