Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has sided with the mullah regime in Iran amid months-long protests sparked over the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police, Nordic Monitor reported.
“We attach great importance to the restoration of stability and social peace in Iran as soon as possible and hope to see calm quickly restored,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in a letter to parliament on December 12, 2022.
The letter did not call for restraint by the Iranian authorities in the crackdown nor did it include a single criticism of Iran’s handling of Amini’s case.
Çavuşoğlu simply noted that Turkey was saddened by the loss of life in the incidents.
Turkey’s top diplomat’s letter came in response to a question by opposition lawmaker Hişyar Özsoy, who asked the government about the policy on Iran with regard to Amini’s murder after her torture on September 13, 2022 and whether any diplomatic initiative in that respect had been taken with Iran since then.
The foreign minister did not even mention Amini’s name in his letter and completely ignored the case.
According to Nordic Monitor, Çavuşoğlu’s comments are the first-ever official remarks issued by any government official in Turkey since the demonstrations launched in Iran after the murder. The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remained silent on the protests, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not issued any statement on Iran since September.
