Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki discussed promotion of bilateral ties with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Iranian Foreign minister who visited Turkey at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan left Ankara on Friday evening, IRNA reported. During the meeting, Mottaki and Erdogan stressed the need for broadening Tehran-Ankara economic ties by carrying out more projects in energy field including construction of power plants. Mottaki also briefed Erdogan on latest developments on Iran's peaceful nuclear program hoping that the upcoming talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 would lead to positive outcome. The Turkish prime minister told Mottaki that Ankara was happy that the trend of talks between Iran and the West was progressing. Erdogan stressed that peaceful negotiations was the only solution to Iran's nuclear standoff with the West. Mottaki also held two rounds of talks with his Turkish counterpart and also met Turkish President Abdullah Gul. His visit to Turkey was part of a regional tour which also covered Oman and Syria.
