TWO BRIDGES

Hassan Rouhani's Turkey trip was the first official visit by an Iranian president to the neighbouring country in the past 18 years. In 1996, the then president of the Islamic Republic, Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, paid an official visit to Ankara. As the saying goes, much water has flown under the bridge since then, and events have taken place that significantly changed the situation in the neighbouring regions - the Middle East and the South Caucasus. A host of neighbouring countries have plunged into bloody wars and chaos. However, it is noteworthy that Turkey and Iran themselves emerged from the trials of the past couple of decades with, as the saying goes, their heads up high. Despite a host of constraints (first of all, domestic political tensions, the heating up by foreign forces of the Kurdish problem in Turkey, and international sanctions against Iran), both countries have strengthened significantly and have been able to bid for regional leadership.

Meanwhile, Turkish and Iranian political elites are becoming increasingly conscious that together they can achieve much more than they can achieve apart. This is what historical experience shows as well: the centuries-old confrontation between Turkey and Iran only played into the hands of those world powers that sought to weaken and even eliminate the statehood of the two largest nation powers of the Islamic East. Now, with an efficient use of today's capabilities, Turkey and Iran could make a historic breakthrough towards a bilateral geopolitical alliance. It is no accident that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: "Iran is a bridge to the East, in the same way as Turkey is a bridge to the West. Let's join these two bridges."

Certainly, at this time it is too early to talk about the above-mentioned alliance but the fact that both states intend to use their bilateral potential to expand cooperation in all fields is the main thing, and the Iranian president's visit to Turkey demonstrated this.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul described Iran as "an old valuable friend" and said that the two leaders had expressed their common will to develop and strengthen bilateral relations. Hassan Rouhani, in turn, acknowledged that Turkey is an important country in the region and therefore the development of friendly relations with it is a priority in Tehran's foreign policy.

As a matter of fact, Turkish-Iranian relations got a fresh impetus after Hassan Rouhani was elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under the former Iranian president, Mahmud Ahmadinezhad, relations between Ankara and Tehran were rather cautious. In any case, Turkey was not very enthusiastic about the Ahmadinezhad government's provoking actions in the international arena. Those actions led to a significant aggravation in the situation in regions Ankara was interested in, especially the Middle East. The new Iranian president announced policy towards an improvement in relations with the international community, primarily neighbouring countries, which has already had a positive impact on regional security.

In practice, Ankara and Tehran launched the policy of expanding relations in January 2014, when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan paid a visit to the Islamic Republic. The sides signed a protocol on the establishment of the Supreme Council of Cooperation between the two countries. This body held its first meeting during Rouhani's visit to Ankara.

The Supreme Council of Cooperation does not only aim to step up political cooperation but also to intensify bilateral economic relations. This includes a twofold increase in the volume of trade between the two countries, i.e. to 30bn dollars, in the very near future.

There is actually only one big problem on the path to expansion of economic cooperation - the gas dispute between Ankara and Tehran which has lasted for years now. Under a contract signed in 1996, Iran exports to Turkey 10bn cubic metres of gas annually. Although the price of the gas is not disclosed, Turkish media reports say that a thousand cubic metres of gas exported by Tehran costs Ankara 490-500 dollars. This is much more than the price of the gas imported from Russia and Azerbaijan. It is for this reason that Turkey has been in talks with Iran for several years now in order to lower the gas price.

However, Tehran insists on the same price of fuel, only agreeing to provide a discount if Turkey increases the volume of Iranian gas it purchases. In 2012, Ankara turned to the International Court of Arbitration, demanding that Iran give it a 30-per-cent discount.

During Rouhani's visit to Turkey, the sides obviously made a step towards specific agreement. To all appearances, they are looking into an alternative agreement towards a decrease in the price for the Iranian gas. After talks with Hassan Rouhani, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "if agreements are reached, there will be an opportunity to increase volumes of gas purchase from Iran. I hope the ministers will be able to find a solution and come to agreement quickly".

According to Rouhani, Turkey and Iran decided to develop relations in the oil and gas fields. The most important thing is that Iran sees Turkey not as a rival but as a partner and so it is ready to create all conditions to attract Turkish investors in the Islamic Republic, especially towards the economic development of Iran's southern regions.

It is easy to conclude from all this that Turkey and Iran are on the verge of a major intensification in bilateral cooperation. The strengthening of the dialogue between Ankara and Tehran will be of great importance not only for themselves, but for the entire region as well. The signing of Iranian-Turkish agreements on the implementation of major railway projects suggests this. According to Rouhani, the projects provide for the creation of a single railway from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

A possible impact of Turkish-Iranian partnership on regional security is a special topic. Despite disagreements between Ankara and Tehran on issues such as, for example, the Syrian crisis and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood's government in Egypt, Turkey and Iran are brought together by common interests of a much more strategic nature. In this regard, Erdogan's statement is significant: "Iran is trying to overcome our disagreements, and - what is important - this is a reciprocal aspiration. I think that radical changes await us this year and next year, especially if we try to accomplish our objectives together. "

If we also bear in mind Rouhani's statement that instability is not beneficial for any country in the region, it becomes obvious that it is through joint efforts that Ankara and Tehran intend to facilitate the establishment of a new security system at the Eurasian crossroads and in the Middle East. The very near future will show to what extent they will manage to implement this intention. But it is clear that the rapprochement between Iran and Turkey is a stabilizing factor in the development of neighbouring regions, whereas the obstacle on this path is the pressure by interested world forces on Ankara and Tehran's policies. It is noteworthy in this context that Turkey demonstrates, in an increasingly more noticeable manner, to the West, primarily the United States, its determination to set its own foreign policy priorities. While doing so, it cites factors that are important for the region, not for Euro-Atlantic projects.

The latter are, in particular, international sanctions against Iran, which Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan views as unfair. Erdogan reproaches the West, saying that despite the harsh tone of US and EU leaders with regard to Iran, a number of Western companies are still allowed to do business in Iran, whereas Turkish products are deprived of the right of access to the Iranian market.

This is how Ankara expresses its discontent with the continuing anti-Iranian sanctions, which have hit Turkish business interests as well. Incidentally, until recently Turkey had been paying for Iranian natural gas in gold. As a result of this, just a couple of years ago trade between Turkey and Iran was worth 22bn dollars. However, then Washington toughened the sanctions against Iran, and this deprived Ankara of the possibility of paying in gold. In 2013, Turkish-Iranian trade fell to 14.6bn dollars.

The anti-Iranian sanctions also have a negative impact on financial cooperation between Ankara and Tehran. Iran has been saying for years that it wishes to cooperate with Halkbank and other Turkish banks. Because of the embargo against Iran, international remittances to this country have been banned since March 2012. In spite of this, Turkey's Halkbank continues to send remittances to Iran. However, Turkish and Iranian financiers are not happy about the shady nature of bilateral cooperation in the field of international remittances, which is a consequence of the international sanctions against Tehran.

It is obvious that the anti-Iranian sanctions can only be abolished completely if a breakthrough is achieved in the talks on the problem of Iran's nuclear programme. Incidentally, Ankara demonstrates solidarity with Tehran in this issue as well. At his meeting with Rouhani, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said his country supports the right of every country to a peaceful use of nuclear energy. "We have always advocated the need to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem through diplomacy. We have always said it and we emphasize it today as well: we do not want any country in our region to have nuclear weapons. However, we will not allow any country in our region to be deprived of the right to a peaceful use of nuclear energy. We all have the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," the Turkish leader stressed.

Rouhani, in turn, confirmed Tehran's readiness to do everything possible to reach final agreement with the international six (the USA, Russia, Britain, France, China, Germany) on Iran's nuclear programme.

Tehran also confirmed its positive spirit during the recent tripartite talks in Geneva between representatives of Iran, the USA and the EU. These consultations were held in the run-up to the next round of talks between Iran and the six countries, which will be completed on 20 June. It is these talks that the probability of the Islamic Republic and the West striking a big deal will largely depend on: ensuring the transparency of the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of the economic sanctions against Tehran.

Meanwhile, the first round of official direct talks between Washington and Tehran has been held within the framework of the tripartite Iran-US-EU dialogue. Iran, in the person of its Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, described them as "constructive". At the same time, Araqchi conceded that the time frame for the development of a final agreement between Iran and the six, which is to be reached before 20 July, may be extended by six months. This suggests that the final resolution of the Iranian issue is not that close. But the good thing is that the search for a way out of the "nuclear dispute" is being conducted exclusively in the diplomatic arena. This meets the interests of regional security no less than expansion of cooperation between Turkey and Iran does.