Syria assault and spying allegations loom over Erdogan's trip to Iran

 

Tensions between Turkey and Iran have grown over a set of issues, from Iranian attempts to target Israelis to Kurdish militant groups

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to Iran on Tuesday under the shadow of increasing tensions between Ankara and Tehran over the latter’s intelligence activities on Turkish territory.

Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi are attending a round of high-level talks between their countries, and later will meet Russia's Vladimir Putin as part of the so-called Astana process to discuss Syria. It is believed the primary agenda will be Ankara’s wish to conduct a new military operation in northern Syria against Syrian Kurdish forces.

Erdogan has postponed visiting Iran several times over the past year, which has been interpreted in Turkey as a sign of troubled relations between the two countries.

Turkish authorities last month detained a suspected assassination team allegedly ordered by Iranian intelligence to kill Israeli tourists in Turkey.

Last month, the Israeli government claimed Tehran had been organising attempts to kill or kidnap Israeli tourists in Istanbul in response to the assassination of Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, a member of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.

To know more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-iran-erdogan-spying-allegations-loom