Erdogan's poetry recital sparks diplomatic row between Turkey and Iran

A poem recited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Azerbaijan kicked off a row between his home country and Iran, which accused Ankara of undermining its territorial integrity.

"We condemn the aggressive remarks targeting our president and our country on the pretext of a poem," Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun said in response on Saturday.

In a statement on the presidential website, Altun claimed that Iranian authorities had attempted to "distort" the context of the verse.

However, later on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, resolved the dispute in a telephone call, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Tehran wants to maintain the warm relationship between Iran's leaders and Erdogan, according to the report. Cavusoglu said that Erdogan respected Iran's territorial integrity and had not been aware that the poem would spark sensitivities in Iran, IRNA reported.

On Thursday, Erdogan recited a poem in the Azerbaijani capital Baku about the division of territories predominantly inhabited by Azeris between Iran and Russia in the 19th century.

Erdogan was addressing a military parade to celebrate Azerbaijan's territorial gains against Armenia in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Iran slammed the poem as interference in its domestic affairs and summoned the Turkish ambassador. Turkey also summoned the Iranian top envoy late Friday.

Erdogan's remarks were "based on illusions," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh said on Friday.

The Turkish leader unwittingly recited a poem that "refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland," Zarif tweeted. "NO ONE can talk about OUR beloved Azerbaijan," he added.

Iran is home to two regions that share that name, West and East Azerbaijan. Together with the province of Ardabil, the area is home to more than 11 million ethnic Azeris.

Iran's territorial integrity was by no means referred to in the poem, Erdogan's aide Altun said, calling on Tehran to avoid any rhetoric that could "overshadow our bilateral ties."

Iran "should not forget" that Turkey stood by it through hard times and international pressure, Altun said, without citing any specific incident.

Turkey has been a vocal critic of U.S. sanctions on Iran, mainly aimed at limiting Tehran's nuclear programme.    (dpa)