Turkey protests Iran's 'offensive language' against Erdogan

Turkey condemned Iran's "offensive language" aimed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a controversial poem that can possibly be taken to suggest Iran's northwestern provinces belong to Azerbaijan. Erdogan recited the poem when he was in Azerbaijan capital Baku for parade marking its victory over Armenia in connection with disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Iran said that the poem could fan separatism among Iran's Azeri minority.

"We condemn the use of offensive language towards our president and our country over the recitation of a poem, whose meaning has been deliberately taken out of context," said Fahrettin Altun, Turkish presidential communications director.

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After Erdogan's recital of the poem in Baku earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that "President Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland".

According to Iran's ISNA news agency, the poem is "one of the separatist symbols of pan-Turkism".
ISNA said the verses point to Aras and "complains of the distance between Azeri-speaking people on the two sides of the river".

Iranian authorities summoned Turkey's ambassador to Tehran to complain about Erdogan's "interventionist and unacceptable remarks".

In return, Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador to Ankara over the "baseless" claims.

(With IANS inputs)