By Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Ministry has denounced Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman’s remarks that Turkey should not test Iran’s patience.
“It is neither acceptable nor comprehensible for a country [Iran] — which does not even hesitate to push to the battlefield the refugees seeking shelter from crises — to accuse others of being responsible for regional tensions and instability,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu told reporters in Ankara on Monday.
Muftuoglu said Iran should “take constructive steps and go over its regional policies instead of putting the blame on countries which criticize it.”
His remarks came after Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said Turkey should not test Iran’s patience.
According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, Qassemi said in a statement late on Sunday: “Those who have immature dreams about rebuilding an empire and have taken meddlesome, illegal and illegitimate measures and supported terrorist groups… cannot shirk their responsibility for such moves through a blame game.
“They should be aware that insecurity and instability in the region has no perpetrator other than them and some other paranoid states.”
Qassemi was referring to the statement of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu during the Munich Security Conference in Germany when he called on Iran to stop its sectarian policy for the sake of regional stability and security.
On Monday, Turkish Ambassador to Tehran, Riza Hakan Tekin, was also summoned by Iran’s Foreign Ministry over the remarks.
Turkey, Russia and Iran brokered talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana recently to reinforce the Syrian cease-fire introduced in the New Year.
