Ankara, June 10 (IANS): Since Hassan Rouhani became the president, bilateral ties between Iran and Turkey have improved, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the two nations endorsed 10 deals in several sectors, including banking, transportation, tourism and energy.
The Iranian president, who was on a two-day official state visit to Turkey starting from Sunday, co-chaired Monday the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which aims to increase the bilateral trade volume to $30 billion by 2015, Xinhua reported.
Erdogan expressed his desire to implement a preferential trade agreement, as Turkish businessmen are enthusiastic to invest in Iran.
Turkey also demands a discount on the price of natural gas purchased from Iran.
In response, Rouhani said that Turkey and Iran agreed to further promote their bilateral relations in the field of natural gas and oil.
Rouhani's trip is the first official state visit to Turkey by an Iranian president after former president Hashemi Rafsanjani's official visit in 1996.