Iran summoned the Turkish ambassador in Tehran on Monday over comments made by Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing the Iran of destabilising the region.
Ambassador Hakan Tekin’s appearance at the foreign ministry on Monday followed remarks earlier in the day by Bahram Qassemi, the ministry spokesman. The official IRNA news agency reported the envoy’s summoning. "We will be patient with their positions. But there is a certain cap for our patience," Qassemi said on Monday.
On Sunday, Çavuşoglu told delegates at a security conference in Munich, “Iran wants to turn Syria and Iraq into Shi’ite". Çavuşoğlu also asserted Turkey was against any sectarianism in the Middle East and had called on Iran to stop threatening the region's stability and security.
During a recent visit to Bahrain, Turkish President Erdoğan reportedly accused Iran of seeking to destabilise Iraq and Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım also made a similar statement.
“Those who have carried out meddlesome, illegal and illegitimate measures, supported terrorist groups and caused bloodshed and escalation of tensions and instability in the region cannot evade liability for such moves by playing a blame game,” said Iranian spokesman Qassemi.
