Describing its role in this dispute as “facilitator,” Ankara is planning to tell the Iranian leadership that “Tehran has the right to have nuclear activities for peaceful purposes,” while also listing a series of “suggestions” for ending the dispute.

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to arrive in İstanbul today for a two-day working visit. The Iranian president, who will be accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, as well as by Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari, will today meet with President Abdullah Gül, while he will meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tomorrow.

Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005, had constantly conveyed his desire to Ankara for paying an official visit to Turkey; nevertheless, the Turkish capital hadn't received this message positively until Gül was elected to the presidency in 2007. Ankara's reluctance stemmed from the approach of former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who didn't host Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, either. However, Talabani paid a working visit to Ankara in March.

Mottaki, speaking in Tehran yesterday, said no one should see a bad intention behind the fact that Ahmadinejad's meetings with Turkish officials will take place in İstanbul, rather than in Turkey's capital. "Both the Iranian and Turkish presidents' programs were very hectic. The dates of the visit which we wanted to pay before Ramadan starts matched with the dates during which President Abdullah Gül is in İstanbul. That's why the visit will take place not in Ankara, but in İstanbul. Iran is respectful of Turkey's values," Mottaki was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency, while speaking with a group of journalists from Turkey.

Mottaki's remarks were an apparent reference to certain media comments which have emphasized that the visit would not be an "official visit," but would instead be arranged as a working visit due to the unwillingness of the Iranian president to pay a visit to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of the Turkish Republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. According to the customary protocol of official visits to Turkey, the visiting party pays homage to Atatürk by visiting the mausoleum. Nevertheless, there is no such procedure when the visit is a working visit. The same reports also noted that Ahmadinejad's working visit would take place in İstanbul, not in Ankara, where Anıtkabir is located.

Natural gas pipeline to be on the table

Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding on July 13, 2007, allowing the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to pump 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the giant South Pars gas field. The agreement between Turkey and Iran would allow for the transport of Iranian natural gas to Europe as well as the transfer of Turkmen natural gas to Europe via Iran and Turkey.

With Turkey being in a difficult position as the conflict in the Caucasus has threatened energy supply security in the region, expectations are high for finalization of the preliminary agreement between Iran and Turkey via signing of a comprehensive agreement to invest in Iran's South Pars gas field project.

Iranian officials, speaking with Today's Zaman, emphasized the improvement of bilateral relations, agreements to be signed and regional developments as the highlights of the agenda of the visit more than the controversy over Iran's nuclear program. The same Iranian officials said negotiations for building of a pipeline for the transportation of natural gas from Iran to Turkey will be conducted during the visit.

As of yesterday Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment on the bilateral energy cooperation aspect of the visit.

Turkey is completely dependent on energy imports to quench its increasing thirst for oil and gas as its industry expands. Iran is currently its second biggest supplier of gas after Russia. Turkey is also a major transit route for goods between the European Union and Iran.

The international community -- particularly both the Israeli and US leaderships -- has been closely following developments concerning Ahmadinejad's visit to Turkey. The Israeli government had already conveyed its uneasiness to Ankara via diplomatic means, saying they find the visit "unfortunate," while US officials haven't hidden their misgivings on the visit.

"Will the visit really help Turkey? I doubt it. It's more beneficial for Ahmadinejad. He'll get another 15 minutes in the spotlight when he unleashes his trademark attacks against Israel and the United States," a senior EU diplomat recently told the Reuters news agency.

todayszaman