Erdogan welcomes Iranian counterpart to Ankara

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace in the capital Ankara on Saturday.

During the ceremony, Rouhani greeted welcoming Turkish troops, saying “hello, soldier” (merhaba, asker) in Turkish.

The respective national anthems of the two countries were played and a 21-gun salute was fired.

The two leaders have started a bilateral meeting.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak and Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar also attended the ceremony.

The two leaders are expected to discuss regional issues and the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Istanbul which ended on Friday.