The statement strongly condemned the “surprising and unacceptable” comments made by the Turkish leader. Erdogan provoked controversy when he recited lines from a folk song that laments partitioning of the lands inhabited by Azeri people by the Aras river. Erdogan was in Baku to review a military parade marking the Republic of Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in a recent war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu underlined the close and friendly relations between Turkey and Iran, giving an assurance that Erdogan fully respects Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The senior Turkish diplomat explained that Erdogan had not been aware of the sensitivity surrounding the lines he recited and associated the poem only with Lachin and Karabakh, which is why he recited it in the recent event in Baku (Source: TASNIM).
