Tourism authorities of both countries continued the good cooperation framework as Turkey’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr. Atilla Koc visited Iran in an effort to further enhance the tourism relations betwen the two countries.

Upon his arrival to Tehran, Atilla Koc made a visit to his Iranian counterpart Esfaniar Rahim Mashayi, president of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) during which they signed a memorandum of understanding for further tourism and cultural cooperation.

This meeting was followed by a press conference with the attendance of Atilla Koc and Rahim Mahsayi in Laleh Hotel during which they talked about the tourism programs in their countries and answered the questions of journalists.

The visit of Atilla Koc to Iran aims at introducing Turkey’s tourism attractions to the Iranians, expanding tourism relations with Iran and exchanging views in the field of tourism with Iranian authorities. He strongly believes that each country must introduce its cultural values and tourism attractions to the world: “If we have some values, we should introduce them properly to attract others,” said Koc.

A tourism exhibition is being held on this occasion in Tehran’s Laleh Hotel for three days with the participation of 12 Turkish travel agencies, 7 Turkish hotels and some Iranian travel agencies to exchange their experiences in the field of tourism and also to introduce their tourism potentials to the visitors.

The opening ceremony of this exhibition was held in Laleh Hotel with the presence of Turkey’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, president of ICHTO, and authorities of Turkey’s travel agency associations. “Organizing this program for the first time is an important measure taken by Iran and I believe that Turkey should do the same in the future to expand its tourism and cultural relations with Iran,” said Atilla Koc.

The visit of Turkey’s Minister of Tourism and Culture to Iran which has been made by the invitation of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran is considered a positive step towards expanding the friendship relation between the two neighboring countries in all aspects especially by promoting tourism and cultural relations.

Iran and Turkey’s cooperation in the areas of tourism training, tourism exchang, launching direct flies between different cities of both countries, establishing a joint company for performing tourism projects, and redeeming the historical relics which have illegally been taken to Turkey from Iran were the main topics of a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and Turkey yesterday.

Atilla Koc has also welcomed participation of Iranians and Afghans in the programs which will be held in commemoration of Rumi in the year 2007 which has been called Rumi’s year.

Rumi was a great Persian poet of the 13th century AD who died in Turkey and was buried in Konya. Every year, many Sufis go to his tomb and perform the special dance called Samaa. Koc was asked by one of the journalists about whether Iran and Turkey are planning to work together for the Samaa programs of next year. “This is a cultural issue which will be discussed during my meeting with Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance,” replied Mr. Koc.

On his first day of stay in Iran, Atilla Koc visited the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad, as well during which the president of Iran focused on tourist exchanges between the two neighboring countries and mentioned that strengthening the tourism infrastructure must turn into a common goal shared by both countries.

“Tourism authorities of Iran and Turkey must pave the way for promoting tourism exchange between the two countries by identifying and increasing cultural and tourism interactions and investing on tourism infrastructures,” said Ahmadi Nejad.

In this visit Turkey’s Minister of Tourism and Culture also welcomed the idea to develop cultural and tourism relations between the two countries.

Although in his visit to Iran Koc is going to exchange experiences with Iranian authorities, he believes that each country has its own strategy for tourism promotion and it should adopt a comprehensive program which goes with its ideology. “To tell you the truth, in my opinion, except for some humanistic rules, if some ideas and programs worked successfully in a country, it does not mean that they can equally be applied to other countries as well, and each country should consider its own potentials to find the best way to reach its goals,” explained Koc.