In a tit-for-tat move, Turkey on Friday summoned the Iranian ambassador as both countries trade allegations against each other. Mohammad Farazmand, the Iranian ambassador in the capital Ankara, was summoned by Turkey's foreign ministry in protest over "allegations" made against Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as Iran's summoning of Turkey's envoy to Tehran, the Turkish media reported quoting sources. Earlier in the day, Iran's foreign ministry summoned Turkey's ambassador on Friday over controversial remarks by the Turkish president during his recent visit to Azerbaijan. Erdogan recited an Azeri-Iranian poem about the division of Azerbaijan's territory between Russia and Iran in the 19th century, drawing Tehran's ire as it believed Erdogan's remarks could fan separatist tendencies among Iran's Azeri minority. "The Turkish ambassador was informed that the era of territorial claims and expansionist empires is over," the Foreign Ministry said on its website. "Iran does not allow anyone to meddle in its territorial integrity." Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted earlier: "President Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas...from (the) Iranian motherland." "NO ONE can talk about OUR beloved Azerbaijan," Zarif said, referring to the northwest region of Iran where many of its ethnic Azeris live. — Agencies
