Tehran slams Erdogan for "forcible separation" remarks on Iran-Azerbaijan border

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif has lambasted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for what he described as “ill-recital” of a poem during the Baku military parade on December 10.

“Pres. Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland,” Zarif tweeted.

“Didn't he realize that he was undermining the sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan? NO ONE can talk about OUR beloved Azerbaijan,” he said, referring to the eponymous province of Iran.

The Iranian state news agency IRNA described Erdogan’s recital of the poetry as “separatist sentiments about the Aras River which runs alongthe Iran-Azerbaijanborder”.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan