Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that his Iranian counterpart’s response to days of protests across Iran was appropriate, stressing that “Iran’s stability is important” for Turkey.
Erdogan’s office said he discussed the week-long unrest in Iran during a telephone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who thoped the protests would be over “in a few days.”
Erdogan told Rouhani that he found his comments about not violating the law while exercising their right to peaceful protests “appropriate.”
“Iran’s stability is important for us. We are against foreign interventions in Iran,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, noting that “if the leadership is to change in Iran, the Iranian people will do this.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are supporting the anti-government protests in Iran, Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by broadcaster CNN Turk on Wednesday.
For his part, Turkey’s government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said that his country opposes foreign intervention in any state or the attempt to carry out regime change through force or unconstitutional and unlawful means.
Bozdag pointed out in a series of tweets posted on his official account that Turkey is closely monitoring the situation unfolding in Iran and stressing the need to preserve peace and stability there.
“Iran’s peace, calm, tranquility and stability are important for Iran, the Iranians and the region. It’s clear that crisis, chaos and clashes that may erupt/or are brought about in Iran will be damaging for the Iranians and the region,” Bozdag said.
He called on the government to act with vigilance, mindfulness and caution against incitements, provocations and the traps that were set and will be set in order to preserve peace, calm and tranquility in Iran.
In this context, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called Tuesday on the Iranian government to act with wisdom to prevent the escalation of events and avoid external interventions in Iranian affairs.
Cavusoglu held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif as the two ministers exchanged views on protests happening in Iran.
